You're Like Me
by lunaravenue
Summary: Uptight rich family, strict rules, high standards, blood-bias, and with a rebellious child doesn't just describe one wizard family in England. The Black and Emberly family are quite similar. You'd think Sirius Black and Corrin Emberly would get along swell, but some fakers are better than others.
1. Chapter 1: The Dinner

Corrin twirled a strand of her hair absentmindedly, just like her sister told her to, careful not to reveal the horrific burn just behind her ear. Sometimes, when Corrin is really tired, she could still feel the charred hair back there. She didn't like to waste her minuscule energy twirling hair, in fact she'd prefer it to be up in a ponytail, but that would just reveal that terrible burn. The burn that everyone would much rather forget about. But alas, that wasn't how things were done during dinners.

Dinners with other families were always the dread of her life. It wasn't even dinner! It all felt like a game of 'who can eat the most without looking like they ate at all?' to her. The only thing Corrin could do was twirl a strand of her auburn hair while avoiding eye contact with anyone else at dinner. Her mother didn't seem to mind all that much, but apparently the Potters couldn't take a hint.

"So Corrin! What do you do in your spare time?" Mrs. Potter asked. Corrin immediately snapped out of her daydreams of a nice family dinner with loud, obnoxious chatter and put on a bright smile. Such a usual question for adults to ask at dinners. Corrin could practically recite her answers by memory.

"Well, there are many things to do," Corrin smiled smugly and flipped her hair once. Twice, it'd be strange and thrice would just seem petty. "Mostly, I prefer to read, practice the piano, and a healthy dose of embroidery never hurt anyone either,". Mrs. Potter seemed satisfied. Her son James and his friend Sirius Black seemed less than interested. She could have sworn they rolled their eyes at her response. Then again, she would gag at her own response if she was outside of her shoes.

 _Although I'd much rather prefer to practice healing, play the harmonica instead of a big old piano, and just throw some paint and hope it looks good!_ Corrin wanted to say, but that wasn't in her script.

"Such a proper lady!" Mrs. Potter beamed.

"Yes, she's _quite_ the gem at home," Corrin's mother nodded. She and Corrin both knew that was the biggest lie of them all, but they both just smiled and went back to acting like queens. Her eyes wandered to Sirius and James. They seemed to whisper something to each other. Corrin raised an eyebrow slightly. Can't make it seem like she's staring, or else who knows what may happen?

"So Corrin! Tell me, what do you think of mud?" James asked nonchalantly.

"Disgusting." _I'd rather stay away, but I really don't care._

"House Elves?"

"For serving purposes only. Nothing to befriend." _I wish they could be my friends too. What is up with these unorthodox questions? Do all normal families ask each other this?_

"Bugs?"

"Gross." _Who cares?_

"Magic?"

"A necessity." _A favorite pastime of mine! You wouldn't believe how much better I've gotten at healing. I'm halfway onto a real Animagus too! Isn't that just swell!_

"James! Enough!" his mother scolded. Corrin sneaked a look and saw James and Sirius sharing a look of disgust before shaking their heads, glaring at her, and going back to their food. Corrin sighed internally and looked down at her soup, which has long since gone cold. I _'d hate me if I was really like this too_. She quickly shrugged off the feeling. She got that reaction a lot from the average families. She was pretty sure even poorer families would kick her out of their home, but what did she know? She's never even been allowed to see one of those homes.

Corrin's older sister Carol gave Corrin a look of sympathy before engaging in another conversation with the adults. Corrin used to wish she could be like Carol, who actually liked doing all of this fancy stuff, until she realized that who she was was just fine. Thank goodness for free literature in the house, which raised Corrin better than her mother and father ever could. Her type was always the enemy in books. The rich snob, the mean popular girl, the riches who got one-upped by the rags. She wanted to be the girl-next-door, the clever friend, the expert healer.

 _Just another year, and I'll finally be in Hogwarts. I can make a fresh new start there and act however I want. I can go outdoors, practice my harmonica, and throw all the paint I want, and no one would even care!_ Corrin dreamed. _Sirius and James had better stay out of my hair. Honestly, they could at least have the decency to talk about me when I'm not here instead of right in my face! At least I won't ever see them again anytime soon... Unless mother drags me to more dinners, and everyone knows who I am not before they even know what I am._

It was of much relief to James Potter and Sirius Black when the Emberlys finally left the house. No doubt Sirius had to leave soon as well, or else his mother would have suspected something.

"Carol and Corrin have to be the most uptight witches in all of England!" James groaned in disgust as he flopped down on his bed. His friend Sirius sat on a chair not two steps away.

"Besides my mother. Honestly, it's nerve-wracking how much they're alike. I now dread the day we go to Hogwarts. At least at home we don't have to deal with _that_ every day!" Sirius complained. "Besides mother of course," Sirius muttered.

"I hope Corrin gets sorted somewhere else. Hopefully she doesn't even know magic! I mean, her sister Carol is alright I guess. Too old to bother us about anything. She'll be graduated before we're even fourteen! But Corrin just seems like the _worst_. And we're stuck with her the entire year! " James complained. "At least you're not like her, Sirius. Glad you saw the right side up!"

"Ha! Me too, James. Next time we see her, we'll make sure she gets mud and bugs all over her fancy shoes," Sirius laughed along. "Hopefully she'll hate it enough to just leave Hogwarts!"

"Or better yet, leave the country and float around all day on the ocean in a golden and silver raft!" James joked.

 _They're all the same. Corrin has to be the worst and most obnoxious of them all. At least the other girls are humble. This one can't even do that right. Ugh! I hope she rots in whatever jewel-studded prison her parents keep her in._ Sirius thought to himself. _At least in Hogwarts, we can ignore each other all we want. I can break all the rules I want, wear clothes that I can get dirty in, say whatever, eat whenever, and not have a single high society demon to tell me otherwise. Just one more year..._


	2. Chapter 2: Ariella Again

"Get up Cory! You don't want to miss today!" Ariella slammed a pillow on Corrin's face.

"Does it have to be this early?" Corrin complained. It was a weekend, and that meant staying indoors, away from any work, and napping all day long while eating all the candy she could get her hands on. To her, it was a perfect way to spend any Saturday.

"Yes! Everyone's going to be so engulfed in that Slytherin/Ravenclaw Match that they'll never notice!" Ariella cackled proudly like a maniac. "That tree'll never know what hit it!"

"It'll end up hitting _you_. I'm just going so there'll be someone to drag your body away from the disaster and back to the dorms before the Ministry comes after us," Corrin rolled her eyes, still laying in bed.

"No. You'll be there to tell everyone how I, Ariella Harlings personally defeated the great…the terrible…."

"Tree?"

"The _Whomping Willow_! It'll never terrorize anything ever again! That's payback for crushing Obsidian!" Ariella stressed the importance of her mission.

"It just knocked your owl a bit! It didn't kill it!" Corrin pointed out. "So do I really _have_ to go?". She was prepared to go right back to sleep. After all, it was a weekend!

"YES! That knock caused those Slytherins to find my letter to dear Henry. Luckily I didn't put my name on it! HA! Those buffoons will be guessing for ages!" Ariella smirked proudly. "Now come on! We haven't a moment to waste!"

Corrin rolled her eyes as she quickly got dressed and carefully stepped outside. Merlin's Beard, nature was just the _worst_. She felt bad for whoever was going to be Ariella's child. She wouldn't be surprised if Ariella was going to take her Dragon Hunting, or diving for a Giant Monster Squid's Eggs. How her best friend is still alive, she'll never know. She was the ultimate stereotypical Gryffindor.

Ariella energetically shoved through the halls in the opposite direction of everyone else. Corrin rolled her eyes, but followed anyway. Ariella stopped abruptly in the hallway, and trekked back to where Corrin was to inform her of some urgent news, receiving some annoyed looks from other students trying to get to the Quidditch Pitch before all the good seats were taken.

"Don't forget we need to go to the game after I cut that tree in half!" Ariella reminded her friend.

"With your bare hands? And is that why you made me wear green today?" Corrin unzipped her jacket partially and pointed to her green shirt with an eyebrow raised.

"Oh Cory, you know I can't do it myself. People will be..." Ariella looked around four times before leaning in closely and whispering into Corrin's ear. "Suspicious that I'm dating Henry!" she hissed.

"Okay, come on. Let's go already then. We're blocking enough traffic as is." Ariella dragged Corrin out of the crowded halls, much to the relief of everyone trying to walk. When they got outside, Ariella sprinted towards the Whomping Willow while rolling up her sleeves and taking a small sword out of her coat pocket. It really was just a small knife, but Ariella didn't like the sound of that. _Sword_ sounded much more daring.

Corrin followed lazily behind, pondering on whether or not she should have gotten breakfast before coming down here. Now that she was actually outside, she wished she had food to munch on while the show started.

"Don't break all of your limbs! I still haven't finished learning my master healing spells yet!" Corrin shouted to her friend as she dodged a swinging branch. She leaned back on her heels slightly and watched with a slightly amused face on how Ariella dodged the vicious branches of the willow and started stabbing wildly.

"Cory! Catch!" Ariella started flinging branches and leaves that she managed to scrape off of the tree. "Woah!" Ariella ducked just in time as a branch swung for her face. Corrin sighed as she picked up the small branches and stacked the three of them neatly on the ground. After another three mintues, Ariella was tossed high into the air, and it was up to Corrin to safely lower her back down to the earth again.

"Let me at 'em! Let me at 'em!" Ariella grunted as Corrin used magic to restrain her friend.

"Calm down there, Ar. You've got enough bruises, cuts, and scrapes to use up half of my medicine cabinet. You know those ingredients don't come easy, and I'm so not up for another trip to the Forbidden Forest. Let's get you cleaned up before someone starts to notice." Corrin helped her friend up after a quick healing spell to allow Ariella to walk. As Corrin picked up the branches, she heard another person's footsteps, followed by some annoying talk.

"Y-y-you just-"

Oh great, it was Peter Pettigrew. The jittery friend of James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Sirius Black. Corrin internally crossed her fingers and hoped that Ariella would spare his face.

"Get back here Pettigrew!" Ariella stormed up to the poor guy and grabbed him by the collar. "You tell no one, you hear me? Or you're dead!" Corrin took this as a sign to throw Ariella a weak branch so she could snap it in half for dramatic effect. This, apparently, worked on Pettigrew as he nodded and scampered away to wherever the rest of his friends were.

"So, Quidditch?" Ariella suggested gleefully. Corrin groggily nodded, still tired from all of the labor work she was forced to do. "Ow. Ow. OOW!" Ariella exaggerated her pain as the walked to the fields.

"Really? More magic? I told you, they'll be fine! And I'm almost out of ingredients to fix it up completely." Corrin crossed her arms.

"Oh please please please please, Cory? I promise not to fight the willow again!" Ariella pleaded like a child. Corrin sighed, but waved her wand and healed more of Ariella's arms. As she went towards Gryffindor Tower to find ingredients for Ariella's leg, three boys in their grade and house went out to find their missing fourth.

"Wormtail! There you are!" James Potter called to his frightened friend, who jumped up at the sound, but looked infinitely relieved when he saw it was just his three friends.

"Thank goodness you're here! I don't want to run into Harlings again!" Peter scurried to his friends and sighed.

"Harlings? What brave, and probably illegal, event did you unfortunately witness her at this time?" Sirius asked. Ariella Harlings was on her way to fame ever since a teacher caught her trying to tame a Unicorn in the forest last year. Rumors had it she's done things even more daring, and probably illegal, since the beginning of Hogwarts. Unfortunately for the Marauders, the only way to find out if they were true was to ask her, which was most likely a death sentence, or to ask one of her best friends.

Molly Prewett was very very nice, but kept all her secrets and glared anyone into oblivion if they pushed her the wrong way. Corrin Emberly was one of the most hated among the Marauders besides Severus Snape, but for another reason entirely. She was stuck up, snooty, and the worst high society witch in the history of high society witches. Of course, that was 5 year old news. Now, she sticks mostly to her friends, her food, and her naps, but that doesn't mean the Marauders hate her with any less burning fury.

In all honesty, Lupin didn't quite understand what was so wrong about her. She never really cared for spiting the Marauders, then again she never really cared much at all about anything. Even James was half-way to forgetting why he hated her so, but Sirius kept them at it. After all, she seemed to remind him of his mother.

"She was fighting the Whomping Willow! Even cut off a few branches from it!" Peter told them. "D-don't tell her I said that! She'll get me for sure!"

"Fight the Whomping Willow? She didn't, you know..." Lupin lowered his voice. He had a bit of a crush on Ariella, but the willow was there for an urgent reason.

"N-no. Just a few branches off the top, nothing else," Peter informed them.

"Don't worry Wormtail, your secret is safe with us!" Sirius patted his friend on the back.

"Thanks Padfoot." Peter smiled in relief. As they walked back to the castle, Sirius spotted Corrin and a wicked idea sprung into his head. Luckily for him, it had just rained yesterday. With a tilt of his head, he directed the Marauders into walking the opposite direction of Corrin. Lupin felt a bit at unease. They never interacted with Corrin before, what if Sirius and James were wrong about her? But what if she really was truly awful? The answer came to him as Sirius stuck out a foot, causing Corrin to trip and land in a big pile of mud.

Corrin didn't have time to steady herself as she was still groggy from the morning and tired from the Willow. Thankfully, she landed on her back, so her face didn't get muddy. She looked up to hear laughing, and immediately felt completely done with the day. She flicked her hands to get off the mud and wiped away small tears.

"What was that for?" She asked in a quiet, but shaky voice. She didn't yell like Ariella did, who would have probably hexed them all by now. Corrin just wanted to go back to bed and sleep forever, but now there was a shower to worry about. It didn't help that she was unintentionally crying either. What was up with that? She always cried when bad things happened, no matter how much it didn't make her feel sad. Call it whatever, but it just made Corrin feel weak.

"I'm so sorry!" Lupin rushed to help her out of the mud, feeling bad for letting Padfoot make her cry.

"Aw, come on Moony. Why'd you have to ruin the fun?" James asked. Lupin just shot him a look, and pulled Corrin upright.

"Thanks," Corrin muttered shyly. She hated when she was shy, but it happened when embarrassing things occurred.

"Are you alright?" Lupin asked. Corrin nodded, and walked away even more tired than before. The Marauders watched in silence until she was gone.

"Why'd you have to act all gentlemen-ly?" Sirius asked.

"Come on, Padfoot! She hasn't done a single thing to us for the five years that we've been here. Why do you hate her again? Because of one dinner six years ago?" Lupin wondered aloud in an annoyed tone.

"Doesn't make her any less awful." James scoffed.

"Well you didn't have to make her cry either, Prongs," Lupin shook his head. The Marauders looked at each other. It wasn't like them to fight over a situation like this. In the end, by the time they were back at the castle, it was like the incident never happened. Unfortunately for them, Ariella cared _much_ more than Corrin did.


	3. Chapter 3: Manhunt

Ariella gave Henry a final kiss before pulling back and leaping off of him. Henry Marx was, as per usual, blushing very hard. He could have sworn the stick from the Whomping Willow she gave him would snap in two at any second the way he was clutching it so tight.

"Henry, darling, I wish I could stay longer, but I need to get back. Besides, Cory would be expecting me! Strange how she didn't come back sooner. Must have ran out of ingredients and went to go get some. Either way, I'll see you tomorrow," Ariella whispered in his ear.

"It's alright Ell, you know what would happen if someone caught us," Henry took her hand and gave it a squeeze. "Good day."

Ariella bounded happily up the stairs to Gryffindor Tower, glaring hard at anyone who looked at her the wrong way. Dinnertime was almost upon them, and she knew Corrin would need to wake from her nap if she was to not become hangry all through the night. Ariella couldn't help but slow her pace. _That willow will be the first to uproot when I get my hands on it again!_ Ariella thought to herself. After muttering the password, climbing up the stairs, and entering her room, she saw her friend.

Corrin was covered in mud, and passed out on her bed. She was still in her dirty clothes, and her medicine drawer seemed to be the same undisturbed mess it always was.

"By Merlin Cory!" Ariella thumped another pillow on the sleeping girl's face. "What in a dragon's nest happened here?"

"No one says that, first of all..." Corrin yawned.

"Shut up, sure they do!" Ariella rebutted.

"And second of all, Sirius Black tripped me while I was on my way to get you more ingredients, which you still don't need, so I got tired and just took a nap," Corrin explained, while trying to go back to sleep.

"He **_WHAT_**?" Ariella fumed. She angrily rolled up her sleeves, as she always did before battle, and threw a towel at Corrin. "Get cleaned up. I'll be back soon. **Molly! We're going on a trip!** " Ariella bolted out of the room to get her other best friend.

"Go get 'em Ar!" Corrin lazily cheered as she wiped her face and resumed to doze off.

"According to how annoyed Lily was, I can only assume that they've left for dinner." Molly informed Ariella as they passed a frazzled Lily Evans on their way downstairs.

"That's where we're headed then. Black has some nerve to mess with us! Do you have what we need?" Ariella hissed between clenched teeth.

"Yup." Molly went along with Ariella's exaggerated play. After years, her and Corrin have gotten used to her over the top antics. Ariella wanted her entire troop to be prepared, so Molly has been carrying around a 'throwing stick' to _"further shame our enemies when they've messed with us!"._ As Ariella liked to put it. In reality, it was simply the stick of a broken quill that was never repaired.

As the two walked towards the dining hall, Molly immediately spotted the four boys laughing in a corner behind the Great Hall, and pointed them out to Ariella, who in return gave a curt nod and barged up to the four.

As soon as they were within hearing distance, she began to fume. "You have some _nerve_ Sirius Black! _Some nerve!_ "

"Oh great work Padfoot. Now you've got Harlings worked up." Lupin muttered to his friend.

"Can it Moony! I've got this." Sirius hissed back.

Before he could even get a word out, Ariella punched him in the face with much force, causing him to tumble back into James and Peter. He let out a grunt of anguish as Ariella dusted off her clothes, glared at the four of them, and marched off. Molly was left to deliver the final 'punch'.

"Sorry boys. Should've left Cory alone." Molly sighed and shook her head as she threw the near weightless stick at Sirius and walked away, recalling the stick back with her wand before leaving the four to bask in their defeat.

"I'm starting to now believe those rumors about her..." Sirius admitted as his friends helped him up.

"I told you that you shouldn't have tripped her! Now come on...it's getting...you know...late..." Lupin whispered a bit scared. They all straightened up immediately, and rushed off to the outside grounds.

"You're lucky Harlings didn't do much damage this time..." James joked around.

"Pick up the pace Prongs! The moon's nearly out!" Peter urged his friend on.

While the four troublemakers left school grounds, Ariella and Molly were helping Corrin get cleaned up in time for dinner. Now fully rested, and in clean clothes, Corrin felt more like herself again.

"Thanks for completing the revenge, Ar. You too Molly. Now, let's get some food, shall we?" Corrin rubbed her hands together in preparation.

"Not so fast, Cory! You didn't get me anything to fix up my leg!" Ariella complained.

"Are you serious Ar? I told you it's fine!" Corrin groaned.

"I need them! It hurts!" Ariella pouted.

"Perhaps you can just give her a little?" Molly suggested. "It'll keep her shut throughout dinner at least." Molly muttered when Ariella was busy whining.

"Oh fine, but you'll use up the last of it!" Corrin sighed as she drew out the remnants of her medicine drawer and applied the appropriate herbs to Ariella's leg.

"Thanks Cory! Now let's get to dinner!"

As Corrin stuffed her face with as much meat as humanly possible, Ariella would sneak a wink at her beloved Henry every now and then when no one was looking. By now, any onlookers would have been used to seeing Corrin eat as messily and rushed as she wanted, but few knew the truth why.

"Cory, honestly. I know Hogwarts is your home away from home, but _please_ some manners would suffice! And no I _do not_ sound like your mother, father, _or_ sister when I say so!" Molly chastised.

"You can try and try to change my ways, but nothing will stop me from enjoying this!" Corrin pounded her fist down lightly on the table as she spoke with her mouth half-full.

"Oh Molly, let her have this one. Besides, we all know what's coming up soon for her." Ariella reminded them.

"Don't even say it!" Corrin clamped her friend's mouth shut before anything could be uttered.

"Okay...just letting you all know. Your dear mother is going to make a sudden move sooner or later. Can't let the family fortune run to waste when all is lost and perished!" Ariella pretended to faint dramatically.

"Yeah, I know. I just don't want an arrangement to actually happen. That's what Carol and William are for." Corrin pointed out.

"Well, hopefully your mother will understand. And don't thing on it too much. You're only fifteen! Your mom won't marry you until at least other than Carol. Even her and William aren't married yet!" Molly exclaimed.

"True...true...very true. Although it's pretty clear they're meant to be. At least they're alike, that's all I can say. One perk of being whatever mother tells you to be," Cory giggled lightheartedly.

"Well if they're already secured, then your mom will let you marry whomever you wish," Molly stated.

"Not every high class Pureblood has it as simple as you, Molly." Ariella punched her friend lightly.

"You do!" Corrin pointed out.

"Oh yeah...Well don't fret yet Cory. Still time to enjoy the slower life." Ariella smiled sheepishly.

One by one, dishes began to disappear and everyone, except Corrin who still stayed to marvel at the freedom of dinner, went to bed. After the last teacher left, Corrin made her way upstairs and spent most of the night chattering excitedly with her friends about really nothing in particular. After another shower, she flopped down on her bed and was quite well prepared to sleep in very late the next day.

"Cory...Cory...Coooooooorrrrryyyy!" Ariella whined.

"What?" Corrin said in an annoyed tone.

"My leg hurts still! Can't you do something about it with your healing stuff?"

"I told you, I used up all my ingredients on your leg before dinner."

"But it still hurts!"

"Can't you wait until the morning?"

"Would you rather wake up even earlier to get me ingredients?"

"Then I just _won't_ get you anything! Good night!"

Corrin angrily turned away from her friend and began to peacefully doze off. Just as she was about to fall asleep, Ariella hatched a brilliant plan.

"Oooooooowwww..."

Corrin squeezed her eyes tighter, trying to drown out the noise.

 _"Oooooooowwww..."_

Corrin ducked her under her pillow and tried to cover her ears with it.

 ** _"Oooooooowwww...!"_**

"Oh my Merlin's Beard! Would you shut up if I get you those meds?" Corrin threw her pillow at Ariella. The girl nodded in satisfaction and threw Corrin back spare clothes. The tired girl, in return, gave a low droning groan of disgust before putting on her clothes, grabbing her flower-picking basket that lay near her drawer, and slowly sneaking out of the castle.

"What do you mean you lost him?" Peter hissed angrily as they stared at the hole in the run down cabin, where a rampaging and slightly injured werewolf had just broke through the wood and ran away like a scared dog.

"He just ran outta here! I guess the moon hit him the wrong way. He ran into the forest!" Sirius explained.

"The forest? Galloping gargoyles, Padfoot! He could get to the school! Who knows how far he'll go? Someone might catch him!" Peter knocked his fist on Sirius' head.

"Come on! It's nearly morning! We can't let him get too far!" James urged the other two to follow in his lead as they transformed into a proud stag, a shaggy dog, and a skittering rat. The rat hopped on the dog and they all ran for the Forbidden Forest in search of a missing werewolf.


	4. Chapter 4: Perspective

Lupin couldn't tell when exactly he passed out, but it was clear that the moon was losing it's effect on him as I started to set. He could briefly catch a glimpse of the morning sun. His limbs ached from whatever he was facing again last night, but something felt wrong. He looked around and saw that he was laying on dirt. Trees surrounded him and a squirrel scampered away hurriedly. What came of most surprise to him was that his three friends were nowhere to be seen. In fact, the one who was near him was the most surprising of them all. Her hair was tangled up in all ways and her jacket smudged in dirt, leaves, and just a hint of dry mud.

"Hold still, will ya?" Corrin huffed. _Can't people just stop getting injured for a weekend or two?_ Now both of her weekend mornings were ruined. She's sure to be late for her first class in the following morning.

"Wh-what? Emberly? What are you doing?" Remus blubbered out.

"Helping you, what does it look like? I'd carry you to the castle, but I've done enough labor work for one day. Besides, I don't want to damage your head. You've suffered multiple limb injuries. Healed all of your broken bones. Were you fighting a unicorn and a hippogriff last night or what?" Corrin asked exasperatedly.

"I-I..." Remus stuttered.

"No? I guess you four only like to brag about the cool things." Corrin shrugged as she finished bandaging his wounds and lay a cool towel on his forehead. "Also thanks for passing out near a stream. Makes things much easier for me."

Remus kept quiet. What was he going to say? She's the one Sirius hated so much, but here she was healing him in the middle of a forest somewhere. Hopefully, she won't tell Ariella about his embarrassing situation.

"Should I get some help...or is there any more broken bones from another body I need to heal?" She asked. All Remus could do was shake his head. She shrugged. "I'll be right back. Need to look for the final ingredients for my drawer. If I'm going into the forest, I'm going to get everything so I won't have to come back for at least until the end of the year," Corrin explained as she stood up and sauntered off. "Don't go anywhere!"

Remus counted around fifteen minutes before he heard a faint shouting. "I found him!" James' voice called over. Soon, he was surrounded by his three best friends. His face spread into a lazy smile.

"Woah. Who fixed you up? A fairy?" Peter observed.

"No..." Lupin croaked, his voice dry from the previous events.

"Well who did then?" Sirius asked. They all got their answer as a slick light orange colored fox pranced up to them carrying a basket full of different plants, roots, and even berries. It stopped short at seeing the three new guests then took a moment to ponder. _If they have their friend all beat up in the middle of the woods, I can use this as leverage for whatever secret they have._

"A fox! Maybe we can scare it off?" James suggested. Sirius nodded and transformed into his dog form, giving a loud and angry bark. The foxed seemed taken aback, but didn't run off. Instead, it spit out the basket and turned into a girl with auburn hair, kneeling on the forest floor in a dirty jacket wearing a tired expression.

"Done now?" She asked as she picked up her basket and made her way over to Remus, who chuckled lightly. Corrin dug through her basket and practically shoved a root down his mouth. "Eat it. It'll make you feel better."

"Corrin Emberly, how in the world are you…" Sirius was left in serious shock as he turned back into his usual self.

"An Animagus? I'd like to ask you the same thing, Sirius Black, James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew. Probably for the same reason. Our parents are just so gosh darn swell aren't they?" Corrin faked an exaggerated smile while speaking sarcastically.

"And here I thought you were a no good stuck-up rich girl like your mother and mine…" Sirius shook his head. He'd never expect Corrin of all people to break the rules. She was just so…stiff when he met her. _Was it all an act?_

"You're welcome by the way! I just saved your friend from infection. Ugh. I expect at least a new dress for ruining this one with this blood and forest _filth_ ," Corrin sighed.

"Well…at least you're honest…" Sirius laughed. Corrin may have been annoyed with him, but she still laughed along.

"Now come on. Let's get him back before anyone notices," Corrin whispered softly.

"Yeah. No one would expect you to be awake before high noon!" James joked.

Corrin rolled her eyes at James' comment, but led the way back to the castle anyway as Peter and James dragged Remus' body behind her. Sirius, surprisingly, actually went up to try to talk to her. He was fascinated by her antics, and by the fact that she was an Animagus just like he was.

"What were you doing out in the forest?" Sirius asked.

"I guess you're not the only one with a crazy werewolf friend. Yes, I know about it. I saw the scratches a while ago," Corrin joked lightly.

"I'm going to say that you're kidding." Sirius chuckled.

"Maybe I'd tell you if you didn't trip me in the mud. Is that your idea for fun?" Corrin looked at Sirius. She didn't know what face she made, but Sirius took it as hurt.

"I-I'm sorry. I just thought that you were...well..." Sirius trailed off.

"A goody two-shoes brat? Well, the first part is right, but I sure hope I'm not a brat," Corrin sighed as she rubbed her eyes and picked a leaf out of her hair. "Man that plant was hard to reach. Ariella better better pay me for this..." Corrin muttered under her breath.

"Right, er, I don't believe I apologized for that. Sorry.." Sirius sheepishly looked down, trying to avoid eye contact. All this time, he's been convincing his friends to hate her as much as he hated her like she was his mother, but it was all just a misunderstanding.

"Although I must admit, if I can get you fooled, then I've got all those other rich snobs wrapped around the tip of my wand," Corrin tried to lighten the mood. She didn't want him to feel bad, but come on. Even she isn't that judgemental.

Sirius gave a hearty laugh at that. "So you're an actress?" He suggested.

"You could say that," Corrin tossed her hair. She never liked the motion, but doing it so much had gotten her used to it. Now it just happens as nonchalantly as napping.

"What are they blubbering on about?" James inquired to his friend Peter while they carried an unconscious Remus a few feet behind.

"Not sure. This is ridiculous!" Peter huffed and shook his head. "Yesterday, we were supposed to hate her with everything we've got, now they're laughing like ol' chums. Padfoot better have a good excuse for this."

As they neared the castle, they had to be more discreet. At this time, teachers could be awake. Who knew which one of them was a super early morning bird? Corrin took a few looks around, then motioned for them to get up the stairs and into the Common Room. As soon as they entered the gold and scarlet room, Corrin jumped onto the couch and gave a stress relieving sigh.

"Your secret's safe with me boys. Now goodnight," Corrin yawned as she began to pass out.

"Not even going to bother climbing up the stairs?" Sirius inquired as his other two friends put Remus back to bed.

"No, I suppose not. I need to sleep as much as possible. Who knows when Ar will get up looking for her stupid meds. Now goodnight," Corrin waved him away as she literally fell asleep on the edge of the couch.

Sirius shook his head and silently laughed to himself. He'd definitely have to hang around her more, and keep her handy for whenever the next moon hit. He went up the stairs to check on Remus. James and Peter came out exhausted.

"Think you could lend us a hand next time Padfoot instead of flirting with Emberly?" James rolled his eyes.

"Shut up Prongs. I wasn't flirting. That's what the rest of the Hogwarts girls are for," Sirius joked.

"Well next time, let's just bring her with us instead. Makes life easier for the rest of us." Peter suggested. He didn't wait for an answer, and neither did James. They both shook their heads at Sirius' antics and went straight off to bed.

 _Jeez, is everyone going to blow me off for sleep? Emberly must be rubbing off on everyone._ Sirius thought to himself, laughing a little at his own joke as he followed his friends to their dorms and collapsed exhausted on his bed.

In the morning, Molly awoke bright and early, planning to finish the rest of her work early so she could hang out with her friends. As she grabbed her ink and quills and began to step quietly down the stairs, she noticed Corrin sleeping peacefully on the Common Room sofa.

"Cory?" Molly silently put down her items and crept up to her friend. "Cory! What are you doing here?"

"Go away Molly. If you must ask, go pester Ar instead. Now just _let me sleep!_ " Corrin glared at her friend as she slammed her head back down on the pillow and proceeded to fall right back asleep.

Molly was taken aback. Must have been a really rough night judging by the dirtiness of her hair and the condition of her clothes. She simply shook her head and went back to her work. As time ticked by, more and more students began flooding in and out of the Common Room, scurrying on to breakfast and whatnot. Although quite a few students were upset over the sudden lack of seating space, they have gotten used to five years of Ariella Harlings and Corrin Emberly taking up space.

At around ten, Ariella finally woke up, only to notice the sudden disappearance of her friend. She must have passed out before Corrin came back with more ingredients for a healing paste.

"MollyyouhavetohelpmeCorrin'sdisappeared!" Ariella burst into the Common Room and ran up to Molly, only to shake her shoulders furiously at contact.

"Calm down Ar, she's right there. Whatever trip you sent her on, she's super tired from. She did fetch you more ingredients, so don't worry about your leg. She'll fix it when she wakes up. Go gnaw on a leaf in her basket or something if you can't wait," Molly reassured her friend.

"Oh thank Merlin!" Ariella dramatically leaned onto the wall. Molly laughed and rolled her eyes, but nevertheless went up to Corrin in an attempt to get her up for breakfast.

"Psst. Cory..." Ariella spoke softly. "Come on...you're gonna miss breakfast..." She tried tempting her friend to wake up.

"I...hate...you..." Corrin muttered before turning the other way. Ariella gave up, deeming it a lost cause and went off to bother Molly. As the Common Room cleared out, Corrin was finally left in peace, at least for half an hour before four particular boys finally woke up from their long night outdoors.

"How is she still asleep?" Peter questioned curiously. So far, the four have woken up, helped Remus with his daily tasks, gotten dressed, eaten breakfast, and got back up to the tower to check on Corrin.

"I don't know. Do you think we need to pay her back for yesterday?" Sirius asked.

"Do you think we owe her an explanation?" Remus asked.

"Aw man, I sure do hate explaining...you do it Moony," James pushed Remus towards Corrin.

Sirius decided to take matters into his own hands and jumped in front of Corrin, shouting loudly into her ear. " ** _WAKE UP EMBERLY!_** "

Corrin screamed and punched him in the gut. Sirius stumbled backwards, giving an uncomfortable _"Oof!"._

"Why'd you do that?" Corrin asked, trying to clam her breath.

"Wow, you sure are getting punched a lot," James chuckled.

"Can it!" Sirius glared James. "Sorry Emberly. We just decided to check on you for a bit. Sorry 'bout last night. I guess we've got a lot of explaining to do, right?"

Corrin raised an eyebrow. "Okay?" She shrugged, wishing she could at least have something to munch on. "Can one of you crazies at least get me a muffin?" She asked and looked around.

James and Peter looked to each other, followed by a series of _"You do it!"_ 's. In the end, Peter lost and went down to get a muffin. Corrin was satisfied and nodded towards Sirius and Remus to start their tale.

"You see..."


	5. Chapter 5: Making It Up

"So how long has this been going on?" Corrin asked curiously. She finished her muffin and tossed it in a nearby rubbish basket. The Common Room was still empty, as everyone was at breakfast. Sirius, Remus, Peter, and James were kind enough to keep her company and fill her in on the strangeness of their group.

"Years, really," James explained.

"And not once thinking to use the right amount of wolfsbane?" Corrin raised an eyebrow.

"Guess we weren't as great with vegetable magic like you," Sirius shrugged.

"Vegetable magic?" Corrin laughed. "It's called healing. Harder than you think it'd be."

"Sure it is," Peter nodded.

"Corrin, we were really wondering..." Remus started off.

"Since you're so great with healing and vegetable magic, you should help us out with Remus here the next moon. You seem to know your way around well enough," James proposed.

"Hmm...maybe. If I feel like it. I don't really want another restless night light last night...again!" Corrin pointed out.

"How's about you do it, and ol' Sirius here can take you out?" Peter proposed.

"Peter!" Sirius growled.

Corrin burst out laughing. "Oh you guys are a hoot," she steadied herself. "What girl wouldn't want to go out with the guy who tripped her in mud?" She sarcastically smiled.

"I said sorry!" Sirius pointed out.

"Alright, alright, I'll help you out once in a while. Someone's gonna have to learn from me though. I'm so not up for it every single moon," Corrin laid out her terms.

"Agreed!" The four cheered in unison. Corrin smiled and got up to leave.

"Where are you heading?" Sirius asked.

"Well, to shower, first off. I don't want to stay in this filth forever," Corrin put her hand on her hips. "And to go to sleep without interruptions! If ya miss me, you can catch me at lunch." Corrin flipped her dirty hair once more and sauntered off to the girl's dormitories. After getting all of the dirt and grime out of her hair _again_ , she caught up on all of her work and waited for Ariella and Molly.

"Cory! You're finally awake! What happened last night?" Ariella pranced up to Corrin, Molly tailing behind closely.

"I was out all night stocking up on the herbs _you_ sent me to get!" Corrin frowned. It was at least partially true. She had a secret now, and had to keep it. It's up to the four guys to decide whether they want to reveal their tricks or not. Besides, she's been hiding her fox for everyone. Well, now it was almost everyone.

"Well, do you at least have it for me?" Ariella asked shyly.

"Does it even still hurt?" Molly asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Well...no..." Ariella dug her heels into the floor.

"Oh Merlin, Ar," Corrin rolled her eyes.

Sirius Black liked the idea of hanging out with Corrin more. He wanted to know just how much she was like him. Well, maybe he didn't want her to be _exactly_ like him, but close enough. He aimlessly ate whatever was near him at the Gryffindor table while his friends chattered around him. He looked, but it seemed Corrin hadn't come as soon as he had hoped.

"...Padfoot?"

Sirius perked up at the sound of his nickname. "What did ya say about me?" He asked, unsure on whether to sound curious or threatening.

"We asked if you thought the viaducts would be a good place to drop some paint. Weren't you listening?" Remus knocked on Sirius' head playfully.

"Sorry. I was thinkin' about it," Sirius shook his head and lightly punched his friend on the arm.

"Sure you were. We all know who you're really thinking about..." James joked around as the other two laughed at Sirius.

"Shut your mouth Prongs. You've been pining over Evans for years," Sirius took a slice of bread and threw it at James.

"Shut up Padfoot you want the entire school to know?" James hissed as he picked up a leg of turkey and flung it at Sirius.

"Stop it the both of you!" Remus shook his head, but couldn't help start laughing.

"Oh shut up Remus," Peter rolled his eyes and landed a slice of cheese on Remus' face. Slices and pieces started turning into rolls and platefuls as the four boys became even rowdier and messier. By the time Corrin, Ariella, and Molly were near the Great Hall, all four of them managed to land themselves in detention and got sent away to clean up.

James, Peter, Remus, and Sirius were all still laughing until Peter shoved Sirius a tad bit too close to Corrin. Luckily, she avoided him in time and a crisis was averted. Sirius was in a moment of shock. He didn't normally feel strange around a girl, especially not Corrin. Maybe she was still a bit like her mother and was now mad?

To his surprise, Corrin laughed and shook her head, dragging along her friends into the Great Hall for lunch. This left Sirius baffled and his friends rolling on the floor with the giggles.

"Smooth, Padfoot. No one loves a guy covered in sauce and fawning over a girl!" James laughed.

"Shut the bloody hell up! You're one to talk!" Sirius retorted. The four of them kept at it all the way up the stairs. It wasn't until they were all cleaned up and about to create the biggest mess of in the history of the viaduct courtyard, that they encountered a fatal flaw in their plan.

"What do ya mean we're out of red paint?" Peter fumed.

"What does it bloody sound like? We used it all up to fake that bleeding to get out of Potions remember?" James pointed out.

"Hogsmeade is too far to walk to. We have to pull it off _now!_ " Sirius stressed.

"Where are we supposed to get paint?" Remus wondered.

"Heard Emberly has paint. No one knows why, but Molly said she did once a while ago. Not sure if she still has it now," Arthur Weasley spoke up. The boy was sitting on the couch in front of the four, who were oblivious to Arthur's presence until now.

"Great. How are we supposed to get it? We can't just ask!" Peter sighed.

"I'll just take my invisibility cloak and take some. She'll never notice. Besides, she won't check. What kind of girl uses messy paint if she can't even handle a little dirt?" James brushed off the problem as he went to his dorm to get his cloak.

"You _what_?" James gaped.

"I paint abstract art. Hear it's really picking up in other countries. Decided to try it out. Looks great, don't you think?" Corrin stood proudly with James' cloak in her hand. She caught him redhanded sneaking into her room. At first she didn't notice, but a single turn and she spotted a hand reaching out from nowhere.

"What kind of girl uses messy paint if you can't even handle a little dirt?" James asked once more. This time, he was serious.

"Me. Got a problem with it? Now you're making doubt if I should even lend you my reds or not," Corrin raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry! Sorry!" James put his hands up to stop Corrin from fuming. "Look, I just really need them!"

"And you couldn't have just asked me?" Corrin crossed her arms.

"Really, I haven't thought about that. Look, can you please just lend it over?" James pleaded.

Corrin rolled her eyes, but sighed and motioned for him to take it. As he reached over to take the invisibility cloak, she held it up and away. "Hey hey, you get to borrow my paint, I get to keep this til you return my reds. I promise not to ruin it. Just want to check it out..." Corrin bargained.

" _What?_ " James gaped. "I can't let you do that!"

"Then put down my paint and I'll give it back," Corrin blandly stated. "I promise to give it back in mint condition."

James tapped his foot impatiently. Time was running out for him. He looked around for any other option, but found none. If he made a sudden move, who knows what Corrin might do to his cloak? He looked at her one last time. She seemed trustworthy enough. At least she wasn't a scheming Slytherin.

"Fine! But I'll be back for it. If there's a single smudge..." James warned.

"Then you can have my head!" Corrin rolled her eyes and shooed him out of her dorm. James took off with the paint, wanting his cloak to be returned as soon as possible. As he re-entered the Common Room, he spotted his friends impatiently waiting for him.

"Prongs! There you are! What took so long?" Sirius asked , clearly ticked off.

"Had to trade the cloak for the paint, but I got it!" James proudly lifted the can of up paint.

"You did _what?_ " Peter screeched. "Do you know what she could do to it? She could never return it. Prongs, the scheme would have been fine! You didn't have to make a deal so bad, even toddlers wouldn't agree to it!"

"She said she'd give it back. Besides, if anything happens we can always just hex her into oblivion," James pointed out.

"She might be keeping her word..." Remus added on.

Sirius sighed and shook his head. "Come on. Let's put the plan into action before we all end up without our souls."


	6. Chapter 6: Another Helping Paw

Sirius walked down the halls of the girl's dormitories. If only James hadn't stayed to torture Severus Snape, then everything would have been alright. The prank, of course, went on beautifully. There wasn't an inch of the viaducts that hasn't been gloriously violated with reds, greens, blues, and yellows. The four snickered proudly as they walked away from the mess, but of course stupid sniveling Snape had to be there and see the whole thing. And, of course, James couldn't resist the taunt. It's like Sniveling Snape knew Filch would be just around the corner to catch James.

"What are you gonna do 'bout it Snape?" James cackled as Snape flipped upside down again and dropped him on the floor a final time. This brought upon laughter from all four of the boys.

"Alright, let's get back. We still got something to get, right James?" Remus warned.

"Yeah, 'sides it's pretty late. We should be heading back. Emberly's expecting the paint," Sirius added on.

"Worried Emberly's going to miss ya, eh?" James laughed. "I'll give ya the pleasure of retrieving my cloak for me. You can ask her out in the meantime!"

"Shut up!" Sirius punched James' arm.

"Come on. It's nearly curfew and we don't have anywhere to hide!" Peter hissed. Without James' invisibility cloak, there wasn't any way to save themselves if a teacher or prefect caught them.

"Alright, alright, we can go," James rolled his eyes, but followed his friends down the hall and around the corner. He got the sudden urge to cast one last nasty trick. As James ran back, Remus could have sworn he heard a familiar 'mew' coming from the other side of the hall.

"James, wait!" Remus' voice rasped as he tried to hold his friend back. James drew his wand and flipped Snape up and over against the wall, hard. As the poor boy made contact with the wall, a certain mean Hogwarts Caretaker arrived just in time to the scene of the crime.

"Well, what do we have here, Mrs. Norris?" Filch's eerie voice was heard. "You're coming with me, Potter!". James groaned as he was dragged away by the caretaker. The other three were just about to go down with their friend, but James' eyes told them to get the cloak back before anything else. With heavy hearts, they drew back into their dorms hurriedly before the cat caught them.

Sirius walked quickly and quietly. He wasn't used to sneaking around alone and without the cloak at Hogwarts anymore. Merlin knows what would happen if a _girl_ caught him. It could go from screaming and waking the entire school, to getting a lifetime's worth of detention. He sighed of relief when he opened the door to Corrin's room. He found her standing in front of her mirror, trying the cloak on in all shorts of ways.

Strange, color-filled canvases lined the floor and walls in a neat and orderly fashion. He noticed a trail of flowers and leaves crowding a corner of the room, along with thick books, filled with who-knows what. He didn't question it, and Corrin seemed to finally have noticed him.

"Hey. What brings you here?" Corrin asked.

"Just the cloak. James got a bit carried away, and...well...let's just say he couldn't make it," Sirius explained.

"So...is there _any_ paint left over?" Corrin laughed.

"Afraid not," Sirius shrugged and laughed along.

"Well, I suppose he doesn't just wear this for fashion. I've been trying all night and just can't seem to make this work without looking like some sort of strange ghost," Corrin sighed as she held the cape up and around her body.

"Well, it's not for fashion, it's for adventures," Sirius crossed his arms.

"Suit yourself," Corrin blew a strand of hair out of her face and balled the cloak up. She threw the cloak to Sirius and sat down on her bed. "So tell me, Sirius Black, what ingenious and elaborate scheme did you execute today?"

"I'm not sure what's more surprising. The fact that you called it elaborate or the fact that you're interested," Sirius chuckled.

"Well," Corrin stood up proudly, crossed her arms, and leaned against her bed frame. "I'm not what you always expect, right?" She raised an eyebrow.

Sirius laughed, but was stunned. Girls didn't usually surprise him all that much. It was all the same blabber. It's not that Corrin didn't talk about clothes or boys (he presumed), but she didn't seem boring either. "Well, you'll be glad to know that the viaduct courtyard has had a beautiful redecorating this evening," he informed her as-a-matter-of-factly.

Corrin burst out laughing. "No _way_! You didn't..."

"Oh, we sure did," Sirius smirked. Corrin felt her cheeks redden, and she looked down. Sirius immediately picked up on this. Years of chatting up girls didn't leave him with nothing.

"I'll see you around, Emberly," Sirius smirked and left. He decided to perhaps lead her on just a little bit. It was usually what he was used to, and he was still deciding on whether she was even worth his time or not. Most of it was just James, Remus, and Peter teasing him nonstop about Corrin.

"See ya," Corrin called to him before he was out of earshot. Corrin dropped down on her bed and grabbed a pillow. She felt herself blushing madly, for no apparent reason. _Do I even like him? I mean, he tripped me in the mud, but then again I sort of made him hate me all those years ago. Does he even like me? I guess we'll have to see..._

Sirius returned to his dorm to find Remus laying on his bed, reading a book. James was probably still getting an earful from Filch, but Peter was nowhere to be seen.

"Where'd our favorite rat go?" Sirius joked lightheartedly.

"He wanted to check up on James and get something from the kitchen. I told him he should have eaten more at dinner. That's what he gets for being so excited about today," Remus rolled his eyes.

"You have to admit, it was a pretty ingenious and elaborate scheme we executed today," Sirius quoted Corrin. He put his hands on his hips proudly and gave a winning smile to the ceiling.

"Did Emberly say that?" Remus guessed.

"Oh? What makes you think that?" Sirius questioned.

"Oh please. You couldn't come up with a high level vocabulary sentence like that for all the girls in the world," Remus rolled his eyes again.

Sirius gave a "harrumph", but flopped down on his bed and dozed off to bed.

Corrin tossed and turned in her bed, but couldn't seem to fall asleep. It didn't help that Ariella was already snoring next to her. Pondering on what could possibly cause this unrest, she heard a faint grumble from her stomach. Of course she was hungry again. She got out of bed and threw on a lazy dress and pulled up a sweater. In case someone caught her, she didn't want to be in her sleep clothes! Picking up another basket, she crept downstairs and into the kitchen. She filled her basket up with breads, cakes, and foods galore.

As she tiptoed her way through the halls, she saw Mrs. Norris about to pounce on a frightened, familiar looking rat. A pile of food lay scattered about, as if someone had dropped them suddenly. The cat hissed and opened it's mouth wide. The rat seemed to petrified to move. It gave a small squeak of fear and hid behind it's tail.

 _Not again!_ Corrin sighed and put her basket off to the side. She quickly shifted into a fox and ran up to Mrs. Norris. Bearing her teeth and giving a threatening hiss, she scared off the cat and changed back.

"You alright Peter? Two squeaks if you can handle this by yourself. One if not. Anything else, and I'll be a mad woman talking to a rat," Corrin whispered. To her relief, the rat squeaked once and ran into her hands. Corrin rolled her eyes and carried him to her basket. She picked up the dropped food that Peter supposedly had and stuffed them all in her basket.

"Thanks, Emberly," Peter sighed as they entered the Gyrffindor Common Room. Peter had finally built up enough courage and diminished his fears of being caught again.

"Can't you four boys ever just keep yourselves out of trouble?" Corrin laughed but rolled her eyes. She gave him half of the basket of food as they walked down the halls of the boy's dormitories. Peter opened the door and happily ran inside, eager to begin eating. Remus, James, and Sirius immediately perked up at the sight of their friend.

"We were just about to go lookin' for you!" Remus sighed of relief.

"Mrs. Norris stalled. Luckily fox over here came just in time," Peter told them all with his face stuffed in bread.

"You're welcome... _again!_ " Corrin smiled. She looked around at the mess that was their room. She didn't know whether she wanted to stay and chat, magically clean the entire place, or just leave. She glanced at Sirius, who was staring at her with an unreadable expression...and a smile. She couldn't help but feel her cheeks redden a bit.

"Honestly, woman, do you ever step outside without wearing something fancy?" James thought aloud.

"Do you ever say something besides questioning what I do?" Corrin retorted. Sirius chuckled at that. "Anyway, just coming by to drop that one off," She pointed to Peter. "And to warn ya. This is...what...the third time I've helped you guys out of a hair? Honestly, it's like the Universe just made me your honorary mum."

"Well then, _mum_ , get outta our room!" James laughed.

"And you owe me a new can of red paint!" Corrin called as she left the boys.

As soon as she left, Remus started his rant. "So when are you gonna ask her out, Padfoot?"

"What do ya mean ask her out? Will you guys just let the joke go already!" Sirius sighed.

"You didn't even try talking her up this time. You just stared at her with this stupid expression. Smiling like an idiot you..." Remus teased.

"Shut up will ya?" Sirius threw a pillow at Remus.

"You know she told me she was thinking about liking you..." Peter whispered.

"She did?" Sirius perked up.

"Oh ho you so do like her!" James laughed and pointed at Sirius.

"Come on, Padfoot. She's nice, and honestly a tad too good for you. You should take what you can get," Remus pointed out.

"I am no longer talking to any of you. Good night!" Sirius turned off his lamp and turned away from all of his friends, who were still snickering behind him. He hated to admit to himself. Getting all caught up in a girl, and Emberly of all people. He didn't even know her all that well. It's not like he couldn't get any other girl in all of Hogwarts...


	7. Chapter 7: Newer Lights

Corrin woke to the sound of...nothing, strangely enough. It was rare that she could wake up without Ariella beating a pillow over her head, or screaming in her ear, or poking her awake with a sharp quill. She yawned and gazed lazily out her window. Looking around, she noticed that no one was in the room. _Where in the world did everyone go?_ She wondered as she set her head down on her pillow, ready to go back to sleep after staying up the past two nights helping James, Remus, and Peter.

 _James...Remus...and Peter...?_

"Oh **Merlin**!" Corrin shot right back up and threw the sheets off of her bed. _How did Ar not wake me up? I'm so late for class!_ Corrin pulled on her uniform quickly and practically strangled herself with her tie. She grabbed her books and tied them to her back. If she was going, she was going _fast_. Figuring the halls would be empty, Corrin swiftly shifted into her usual orange fox and dashed to her first class. A few stray students managed to see her, but they were either to baffled to do anything, or they simply thought she was a forest animal who wandered in by mistake.

As she ran for her time, a pair of hands managed to swiftly pick her up and off the floor. Corrin yelped in surprise, and squirmed around to try and get out, worried that a teacher or prefect had caught her.

"Not so fast, Emberly," A familiar voice chuckled.

"Where do you think you're going like that? You'll blow all of our covers!" Remus Lupin stood in front of her. As a fox, Remus seemed much larger than normal.

Sirius, who was apparently the one who caught her, let her drop to the floor. Corrin turned back into her normal, witch-like self a second too soon and landed on her knees on the floor. Sirius laughed, but helped her up anyway.

"Ow! You're sure reckless for a person who can turn into an animal himself," Corrin took his hand and pulled herself upright while trying her very best not to turn beet red.

"Do you run to class like that all the time?" Peter inquired.

"Only when I'm late!" Corrin pointed out. "I've got to go, or else I'll get detention for sure. See ya!" Corrin grabbed her things and ran off to her next class.

"See you!" Sirius shouted loudly. His three friends continued to snicker. "What are you yapping on about?" Sirius glared at them.

"You know very well, my dear Padfoot," James ruffled his black hair and led the way for the four of them to class.

 _In the Great Hall_

"I can't believe you didn't wake me up in time! Now I'm serving detention! So much for napping until I'm better," Corrin sighed as she blew another strand of her hair out of her face.

"You know, you should really tie your hair up. It'd be pretty if it were up for the party at Hogsmeade this weekend. There isn't a second where it's not completely in your face," Lily Evans told her from a few seats down absentmindedly.

"Well...it's fine, really," Corrin tucked her hair behind her ear and looked back down at her food.

Molly shot Lily a look, causing her to become very confused. Ariella, on the other hand, tried to shake her best friend out of it. "So, Corrin, you've been hanging around guys more often. What about _me_?" Ariella nudged Corrin, trying to change the topic.

"Oh please! Like you don't ever ditch me," Corrin rolled her eyes playfully as Ariella faked a taken aback look.

"Well I'll say. The only thing that could get you this worked up is a guy. Who is it? Gonna tell?" Ariella leaned in closer to Corri.

"As if, Ar," Corrin rolled her eyes, hoping that her expression wouldn't give anything away. "Either way, I gotta go. I'm serving detention and would prefer not to be late _again,_ " Corrin looked at Ariella, who in turn gave a cheerful laugh.

"Good luck Cory!" Molly called out to her friend.

As Corrin left the halls, Peter nudged Sirius, who looked up to see her walking away casually from the Gryffindor Table and leave the Great Hall. He stared until she was completely gone.

"Go follow her!" James hissed.

"Why should I?" Sirius scoffed.

"He's still in denial," Peter shook his head in dismay.

"Come on, Padfoot. You can go get her! Besides, you're up for detention anyway," Remus reminded him.

"Must you ruin everything?" Sirius glared at them.

"Hey, its your fault for setting all the books on fire," James laughed.

Sirius had had enough, and decided to listen to his friends' idea, which may have been a mistake on his behalf. He briskly walked out the door, hands in pockets and eyes wandering. As he passed a group of girls, they quieted down and watched him move. He gave a wink, and that immediately sent them into a flurry of whispers and giggles as he averted his eyes and exited the halls. He could still see Corrin from the far end. He decided to call out to her.

"Emberly! Where are you headed this fine evening?"

"Serving detention! Wouldn't have had to if you hadn't stop me in the halls earlier today," Corrin replied loudly. She felt her pulse increase just the slightest and stopped walking.

"Well wouldn't ya know, that's where I'm headed too!" Sirius smiled. "Set the books on fire by 'accident'. No doubt I'm going back tomorrow too." He laughed, trying to impress Corrin with another one of his ingenious schemes.

"Oh..." Corrin nodded and the looked to the ground. She shuddered at the thought of fire again. She didn't even like to go near the fire in the Common Room. Her blankets and pillows could keep her warm enough without dangerous flames flickering at her feet.

Sirius frowned. He thought that was a good one. "Well..." he tried to change the topic. "Did you hear about the party?"

Corrin nodded. Ariella mentioned it, since she was obviously invited. Molly was also invited. She felt a bit sad that her friends had to plead to get Corrin invited as well. No doubt Ariella threatened him on the side as well. "Yeah...I don't know if I should go. It's a weekend, and I don't really think they want me there," Corrin explained.

"Really? How so? You certainly have to be welcome to be invited, don't you?" Sirius began to walk, forcing Corrin to follow him.

"Well, not exactly. My friends had to ask for an invite for me. I didn't really even want it. I guess they thought I'd feel left out. I usually don't go to these things. Rather sleep in, you know? And Hogsmeade is just...so...far!" Corrin laughed.

Sirius chuckled. "Well, you're certainly welcome _now_. I'll make sure of it. I thought you were pretty popular. Everyone seems to know your name around here."

Corrin shrugged. "I guess? I don't really talk to other people that often unless they come up to me. It's a lot of work!"

"They aren't kidding when they say you're lazy," Sirius chuckled as he nonchalantly swung an arm around her shoulder. He liked how she blushed just a little.

"W-well...I guess.." She smiled softly.

They kept the banter going on all the way to detention. It turned out they had a lot more in common than they thought. Same overbearingly strict mothers, same annoyingly perfect siblings, same hauntingly empty homes.

"Do you ever feel like running away?" Sirius asked.

"All the time. But I don't have anywhere to go. I don't want to bother anyone and it hasn't become that bad yet," Corrin explained.

"Alright you two. I don't want any trouble. I expect you to copy this text. No talking!" their professor instructed.

Sirius and Corrin sighed and picked up their quills. Sirius noted the bored, but determined look on Corrin's face as they both scribbled away on their parchments. Her hair fell into her eyes, and she blew it out of the way. Sirius got immensely bored, and an idea sparked into his head. Without another thought he twirled his wand and lit up his paper, setting it slightly aflame.

Sirius smiled smugly, thinking that he was a genius. He nudged Corrin, who sprung out of her chair. Sirius immediately frowned as she started breathing heavily and grabbed onto the desk to keep herself steady. He saw a fear in her eyes that resembled every time Remus did something utterly stupid during his werewolfish phases.

"Good blazes!" Their professor put out the fire. He glared at the students. "Who did this?" He demanded to know, glaring mostly at Sirius.

"I'm sorry professor. I was twirling my wand when a spark just ignited the paper. I shouldn't have been dawdling," Corrin spoke up, but hung her head down. Sirius grew worried. He could still see her trembling.

Their professor heaved a heavy sigh and nodded. Sirius was allowed to pick up where he left off from his old parchment, and the two of them finished the assignment in silence. _What could get her so frightened? Was it me? Was it the surprise of the prank? Was it the fire?_ Sirius pondered. As the two of them left detention, he spoke up once more.

"I'm sorry if I scared you," Sirius said quietly.

"It's alright," Corrin shrugged.

"Are you afraid of fire?" Sirius inquired.

Corrin couldn't do anything but nod. She hated the flames. She despised the way they destroyed everything in their path, whether it was good or evil. She could scoff at the fact that anyone found it warm and even inviting. She once thought that way too, before the accident.

"Merlin, I feel awful," Sirius sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He stopped walking and took Corrin by the shoulders, staring intently into her eyes. Corrin blushed a bit again, which made Sirius feel accomplished. "Corrin Emberly will you be so kind as to let me be your date for the party at Hogsmeade this weekend?"


	8. Chapter 8: Hogsmeade Weekend

"Sure," Corrin smiled. In actuality, she would have screeched her 'yes' and jumped over the entire school, but her years of acting all proper around strangers made her completely smooth around people, even though sometimes those same people could make her heart flutter just a tiny bit.

"Fantastic," Sirius grinned. He swung his arm over Corrin again and they resumed talking as if nothing happened at all. Sirius would crack a joke, and Corrin would either laugh or roll her eyes at his embarrassingly bad puns. She'd make complaints and remarks over their remarkably similar lifestyles, and he'd laugh at the exaggerations she'd stress.

As the two entered the Common Room, not many people noticed much of their unusually friendly banter. After all, who wasn't used to Corrin Emberly entering late at night and Sirius Black having a new girl within his grasp? The ones who did notice, however, were uncannily quiet. The lot of them each crept back into their respective dorms, and waited.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Corrin smiled up at the dark-haired boy.

"Meet me right here. I'll be waiting. And please, don't forget to wake up," Sirius joked around. Corrin pretended to be offended and playfully slapped his arm. As she left, Sirius couldn't help but wonder why he didn't bother buttering her up like everyone else. He wondered why he didn't act more than overly smooth.

As he entered his dorm, his mind was still lingering on Corrin when his three roommates erupted in cheer.

"We knew you could do it, Padfoot!" James threw shredded parchment over Sirius' head like confetti.

"And might I add, she's quite a keeper!" Peter laughed and rolled along on his bed.

"We couldn't be prouder of our little puppy," Remus slapped Sirius on the back harder than necessary.

"What in Merlin's Beard are you talking about?" Sirius asked, slightly annoyed but still laughing along with his friends.

"Well looks who's gettin' all shy about a girl now," James taunted with his arms crossed.

"Speak for yourself, Prongs," Peter muttered.

"You mean Corrin?" Sirius scoffed. "She's just..". He trailed off, he didn't know what to say.

"Aw come on Padfoot. Don't say she's just another girl you're messing around with. She's rather nice in our opinion," Remus pointed out disappointed.

"And besides, you pushing her in mud and hating her for most of your life was bad enough as is," James added on.

"You can't just lead her on like that!" Peter finished.

"I'm not leading her on! I li-" Sirius clamped his mouth shut, cursing himself for saying it in front of _those_ three.

A chorus of "OOOOOH"'s echoed through the room. "You admit it then! You like her! I'd never thought I'd see the day Sirius would fall in love!" James fake swooned.

"We all thought you'd die alone drunk and in an ice cream parlor somewhere," Remus joked.

"Alright alright, did you ask her to Hogsmeade tomorrow?" Peter inquired.

"Yeah, I did. Now can ya stop bugging me? We still need to get a certain stag to ask out Evans," Sirius changed the topic. The attention shifted to annoying James into asking out Lily Evans. As the four boys continued their jokes, Corrin received a different welcome into her dorm.

"Corrin Emberly you did _not_ just imply that you are dating Sirius Black," Ariella immediately sprung up from her bed and grabbed Corrin by the shoulders, shaking her madly.

"Ari, calm down. You'll knock the wind out of her before we even get an answer!" Molly separated the two.

"Oh believe me Ar, I did just imply that. Well sort of. I mean I guess I kind of liked him before, but he's only asked me out today," Corrin explain.

"Oh Cory! That's great! Now we can have triple dates!" Ariella squealed.

"Please be careful, Cory. You of all people should know about Sirius Black's..er..infamous reputation," Molly warned.

"Pfft, alright Molly. Don't worry I'm not swooning over him," Corrin rolled her eyes,

"Yet..." Ariella cracked up at her joke.

"Like you don't swoon in front of..." Corrin looked around to make sure no one was listening. "Henry!" She hissed quietly.

"Shut up Corrin!" Ariella gasped over-dramatically.

" _Oh Henry! I would be ever so devastated if anyone ever found out about us! Just hold me now!_ " Corrin mocked her friend.

The three of them laughed and collapsed on their respective beds. "Oh girls, why can't you ever date normal guys?" Molly shook her head.

"Like Arthur is just _so_ normal with his obsession of Muggle things," Corrin pointed out.

"Well I find it endearing..." Molly huffed.

"Yeah...about only 20% of the time," Ariella muttered under her breath. She and Corrin were thrown into another fit of laughter as Molly gave them all a death glare.

Corrin couldn't help but be excited for her first date. She felt her heart about to explode, but also was scared. She didn't want to go only to find out that Sirius had forgot, or worse, been talking to other girls who also felt entitled or special around him. _Not that I feel that way around him like those other fangirls_ Corrin convinced herself. Morning came, and it took both Ariella, Molly, and Corrin's owl to wake up the sleeping beast.

"Wake up Cory! You got a hot date waiting for you!" Ariella tempted Corrin in a sing-song voice.

"Hot wha...?" Corrin whined and turned her head around the other way.

Her owl, Thorn, hooted all around her. It took some convincing from Ariella to get the not as lazy bird to cooperate, but it was now a full on bird alarm.

"You don't want to keep Sirius waiting!" Molly warned again. She dragged the covers off of Corrin, and propped her upright. "We're gonna make sure you look great, even if you aren't fully awake yet," Molly sighed as she began to tame Corrin's wild hair.

"Jeez Cory! A bit of washing could suffice!" Ariella shook her head.

In the boy's dormitories, Sirius Black was already up and at it, although his friends' attempts at making him seem cooler only resulted in him becoming just the slightest bit nervous.

"Don't forget, you can't just talk to other girls when you're with her!" Remus reminded him.

"And don't do that thing where you check on your hair more than her!" James added on, almost bursting into laughter.

"Oh my Merlin Padfoot you need to get her roses!" Peter urgently remembered.

"Roses?" Sirius began to fret. "I need to get her gifts now too?" He never brought roses for any other girl.

"Blast do you sound like a girl Peter," James rolled his eyes.

"That's ridiculous Peter. Corrin hates nature. Don't get her roses Padfoot," Remus argued.

"Forget the roses already! We need to make sure ol' Padfoot over here doesn't embarrass himself completely in front of Miss Emberly!" James put them all back on task.

"You guys never help me when I take other girls out," Sirius rolled his eyes. "What gets you all worked up for this one?"

"Sirius! It's a wonder you ask that question. Corrin's way nicer than all the others," Peter pointed out.

"She's mighty helpful. That red paint sure did the trick," James reminisced.

"Her healing abilities don't hurt either. Especially on full moons," Remus concluded.

"You're all so selfish!" Sirius laughed. "There's more to her than her possessions and her abilities."

"What then? Do her eyes sparkle? Do you like her smile, her laugh, her gorgeous face and more?" James taunted.

"Yea-Wait I'm not telling you. And I'm going to be late!" Sirius internally scolded himself for almost admitting he thought that way.

As Ariella slapped Corrin once to wake her up, Sirius brushed up his hair and gave it a final glance. Molly finished up Corrin's half up-do as Sirius strutted out the halls with his three friends. Ariella yanked on Corrin's scarf and shoved her out the door with Molly trailing behind. As their friends practically pushed the two together and ran off giggling, Sirius and Corrin couldn't help but roll their eyes.

"Good luck!" Molly and Ariella called to Corrin.

"Don't get carried away!" James, Peter, and Remus cackled proudly.

"I'm so sorry about them," Sirius and Corrin both said.

"You look lovely this fine morning," Sirius complemented.

"Thanks, although no morning is ever fine, believe me," Corrin joked. Sirius laughed and swung his arm over Corrin once more. The two of them had a lovely walk to Hogsmeade, although Corrin couldn't help but notice that every once in a while, Sirius would do the occasional wink or smile at wandering girls. They could be from any house, in any number, in any hair color, shape, or size.

By the time the two arrived at Hogsmeade, Sirius was still in a conversation with another girl. Corrin couldn't help but frown a bit. She supposed his arm around her meant little to nothing now. _Don't get your heart broken. This was expected._ Corrin told herself. Before they entered the designated shop for the party location, Sirius' friends dragged him off. Corrin's own friends pulled her into a chair at a table.

"So how is it going?" Ariella questioned.

"Alright I guess. He just kept looking at everyone else on the walk here. It was a tad bit annoying.." Corrin huffed sadly.

"Don't fret yet Cory. I'm sure it was just a temporary thing," Molly reassured her friend.

"I sure hope so," Corrin smiled. Sirius entered the room and walked straight to Corrin. He sat down smoothly next to her and swung an arm around her.

"Sorry 'bout that love. So what were you saying before?" Sirius asked. Corrin didn't notice her friends slipping away to another table where three boys sat, but she did notice that Sirius became much more attentive.

"I was just saying that the weather's been pretty bad. Snow is fine and all, but I swear if I'm low on any plant or root supply, I am dead without them," Corrin explained.

Sirius chuckled. "I know what you mean. You can't even play Quidditch all that well in the wintertime! Do you play?"

"Because you've seen me on the field so many times before," Corrin rolled her eyes and said sarcastically. "I mean I like the prospect of Quidditch, but I don't think I can wake up so early on weekends to try out and play the games."

"What? That'll do no good. I'll bet you're a great player," Sirius flattered.

"Yeah, don't get your hopes up," Corrin smirked. Corrin was glad that he didn't turn out to be as much of an egotistical player as she thought he'd be. Sirius was glad that she wasn't a girl who was afraid to disagree with him. They both liked how they were both funny.

Although it took some convincing, Sirius managed to get a nice walk in the snow with Corrin. He knew, that hiding behind crowds of people, were his three trickster friends. He walked her far, far away until there was nowhere for the three friends to hide. Corrin was also glad for the privacy. For once, she was alone without feeling really lonely. At Hogwarts, being alone with Molly and Ariella just made things very very loud.

"So what did you think of today?" Sirius asked her as they sat together on an isolated bench.

"It was nice," Corrin smiled softly. "Although I'd prefer if we were somewhere warmer.." she shivered.

Sirius laughed and wrapped a protective arm around her, holding her close to him. He saw her become calmer. She smiled up at him and looked down shyly. Sirius smirked a bit. Although her laziness separated her from the others, there was always the one look that every girl he encountered had at one point. That was the one point he didn't mind.

Tilting her head up just a bit, he leaned in close and placed his lips on hers. at first she was shocked. What was she supposed to do? She's never been kissed romantically before! She kissed back, but couldn't stop her erratic breathing. As his arms pulled her closer, she relaxed and allowed her eyes to drift shut. She rested her arms around his neck and felt nothing but his soft lips on her own.

He was ecstatic. He ran his hand through her soft, clearly washed the day before, auburn hair before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer. He almost burst into a grin after he caught her scent, which he believed to be a mix of caramels and candies. He didn't know whether it was natural, or just her habit of eating sweets, but he fell in love with it.

Eventually, the time came to part and Corrin ever so slowly pulled her head back, only to be met with his dark eyes. He grinned widely at her, and she couldn't help but return the smile.

"So..uh..." She stammered clumsily. What was she supposed to do now?

"It's almost dark, how about we head back?" Sirius suggested. Corrin gave a shy nod and took his hand. He led her back to Hogwarts, slowing down briefly at a branch, giving a wink to a very familiar looking rat.

"So hows about another date, Corrin?" Sirius asked her.

"Sure," She smiled up at him. "Where and when?"

"Not sure. I'll be sure to let you know when I figure it out," Sirius shrugged. They talked the entire way back to Hogwarts. Before entering the Common Room, he dragged her aside and gave her another quick kiss. Both of them couldn't help but laugh after they pulled away.

"See you around, Sirius Black," Corrin said mischievously as she untangled herself from his arms and gave him a wink before entering the Common Room. She surprised herself at how bold that move was, and Sirius was left stunned, but smirking all the way. As he entered his dorm, his friends asked how their date went.

"I think I'm going to keep this one around," Sirius flopped on his bed and rolled his back away from his friends, not wanting them to see his unbreaking smile.


	9. Chapter 9: The Tutor

"Me, obviously," Sirius scoffed. The four boys were bickering in their dorms on who to take up Corrin's offer on her lessons. It was no secret between the five that she didn't want to be there every full moon with her basket of magical herbs to heal Remus whenever he needed the aid. That was what James, Sirius, and Peter were for.

"Are you sure? Like you'd ever learn anything a day in your life," Remus rolled his eyes. He, of course, couldn't learn himself. He could only go so long without losing control of his own mind. At this time, he was at his wit's end. None of his three best friends seemed trustworthy enough (or diligent enough) to actually learn anything.

"Please, Padfoot. We all know the only thing that's going to be going on in those tutoring sessions with Emberly is you two snogging your brains out in an abandoned classroom," James laughed. Everyone was surprised at how long Sirius managed to keep Corrin. Although it was only a little less than a month, it was a record for Sirius Black.

"It's not like you'd learn any more than he would, Prongs!" Peter pointed out.

"Oh pfft! Please, Wormtail, we know you can't possibly take the pressure," Sirius argued. Before the four could get any further with their debate, a soft knock came on the door. Corrin casually strutted inside and put her hands on her hips.

"I may not remember a lot about time, but I'm fairly certain I asked _one_ of you to show up for a healing briefing," Corrin lifted an eyebrow.

"I thought that wasn't 'til later today?" James was baffled.

"Oh you idiots! It's half past five already!" Remus groaned.

"Well, I guess it's already expected of you all to be late anyway," Corrin sighed and laughed. "I'll see you boys tomorrow at night then?" She shrugged and gave Sirius a mischievous smile before closing the door. Sirius smirked at their signal and went to go follow her.

"Where d'ya think you're heading?" Peter sat up from his bed.

"Like you need to ask," Remus threw a pillow at Peter.

"Don't get too crazy!" James called out to Sirius, who restrained himself from throwing back a zinger to save time. He quickly caught up to Corrin and snaked his hands around her waist, making her turn back to face him.

"Looks like someone's fast," Corrin giggled. She backed up to the wall, but held a hand to his chest before he could lean in to kiss her. "Not today, Sirius."

"Aww, but I came out the way out here.." Sirius pouted.

Corrin couldn't help but laugh, and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "I dragged you out here to _teach_ , dummy. I am not waking up at another full moon only to have more nature in my face!"

"Can't we learn tomorrow?" Sirius pleaded. He picked her up, hoisted her over his shoulder, and put her down on her bed in her dorm room, which was thankfully empty. Corrin knew resistance was futile, so she waited until he put her down before talking again.

"If you make me go out there tomorrow night, I'll..." Corrin thought for a bit. What could she possibly hold against him?

"You'll what, Corrin Emberly?" Sirius laughed as he started to kiss her. Corrin thought for a while, trying not to let Sirius' lips distract her from her task.

She decided to go the hard way and shoved him off of her. "No kisses 'til you sit down and let me lecture you about plants," Corrin stated proudly. Oh it'd be hard to resist alright, but she was determined not to go out again tomorrow.

"You wouldn't dare," Sirius scoffed.

"Try me," Corrin challenged him. A plan was formulating in her head already.

"Fine then. I will." Sirius pulled her towards himself and started to kiss her. He didn't notice her slowly backing him towards the door until she broke from him, gave a sly smile, and pushed him out of her dorm. Making sure to lock her door with her wand, concealed well inside the folds of her sweater.

"Corrin!" Sirius gasped, still trying to comprehend what happened.

"See you tomorrow night?" Corrin laughed, leaving him high and dry outside of her dorm. She partially regretted her decision. After all, it still meant that she had to wake up late at night the next day. She shrugged and picked up her harmonica, playing a mellow tune.

Sirius shook his head and sulkily walked to his dorm. He wished he'd brought his wand. At least then he would have had a way to open the door. As he reentered his room, his three friends looked up.

"What happened? She didn't break up with you did she?" Peter asked.

"Judging by his face, it's something much worse," Remus speculated.

"I don't get what's wrong. His hair is still in mint condition, although mine is obviously better," James added on.

"You wouldn't believe what she did this time," Sirius laughed as he slumped on his bed. He couldn't believe a _girl_ trumped him this time. After telling his tale, Remus sighed and got up.

"If none of you can even learn anything without being scorned by love," Remus began and looked at Sirius. "Then I'll go myself." He shook his head at his three friends as they continued to laugh and joke behind him. He sauntered over to the girls' dorms and knocked on the shared room of Corrin, Ariella, and Molly.

"I'm _still_ not kissing you Sirius!"

Remus heard from beyond the door between two measures of a harmonica. "It's alright, Emberly. It's just me!" Remus called. Corrin sighed and put her harmonica carefully on her desk. She dragged herself up from her bed and opened the door.

"Can I help you?" She asked monotonously.

"I need a favor," Remus requested. He regretted his word phrasing.

"Is there any time you boys aren't constantly at my door pestering me?" Corrin rolled her eyes and groaned.

"Er, sorry, but I need you to teach me how to heal. At least how to control myself...tomorrow.." Remus explained.

"Fine. You want to know what the key is?" Corrin asked. Remus eagerly nodded. "It's all in the _Wolfsbane_ ," Corrin stressed.

"I know it helps, but how is it used?" Remus questioned.

"Well, the most useful part is the flower, which can be used to brew Wolfsbane Potion," Corrin began her lecture.

"I heard it was nearly impossible to brew. Doesn't it help with the effects of my...werewolf form?" Remus lowered his voice at the last part.

"Not so impossible. I'd get on it now, but you need to take it each day of the week leading up to a full moon, which has obviously long past already." Corrin explained.

"Can't I just chew on the leaf of it or something?" Remus questioned, wanting to get better already.

"For a smart student like you, you sure are deprived of your plant knowledge," Corrin rolled her eyes. "You shouldn't _ever_ eat the leaf of the Wolfsbane plant. It'll only poison you and then we'd have a whole other problem on our hands."

"Look, you can help me start brewing, or get one of your other friends to do it, but that's all for today. I'll see you tomorrow, alright?" She ushered Remus out of her room to be left to her own privacy. Shortly after he left, Molly came inside the room and sighed as she landed on her bed.

"Studying again?" Corrin asked, not bothering to look up from inspecting her paintings.

"Yep. Arthur's sweet, but he sure does get distracted," Molly giggled and sighed once more into her pillow. Corrin laughed along. She would look back on those days as one of her happier times, when gossiping about boys seemed like the greatest feat they would ever accomplish in those dorms.

 _The Next Day at Midnight_

Corrin sat a safe distance away from swatting distance outside by the Whomping Willow. Hopefully, she wouldn't be seen. The wind howled, and Corrin gritted her teeth. Why couldn't the boys just show up on time for once? She gripped her basket of herbs as she heard a rustling noise. She was relieved to find out it was only a rat. Peter Pettigrew, to be exact. He was followed by a stag and a black dog.

"So is this how it normally goes?" She asked quietly. Sirius took the liberty of changing back into his human form to tell Corrin some basic information about to protocol every moon.

"Well, pretty much. Remus'd be waiting for us at the other end, then we stay in the shack or just roam around the place," Sirius shrugged like it was no big deal.

"Ro..You just _roam the school and around the place?_ " Corrin scoffed. "I thought he'd be an insane wolf who'd hurt himself, therefore needing my assistance!" Corrin threw her hands up in the air.

"Well sometimes he gets hurt," Sirius shrugged.

Corrin lifted an eyebrow, then turned to face the rat and the stag. "Can you please tell me the real reason I'm here?"

It was James who answered. "It's 'cause Sirius here loves you so much," James replied, snickering.

"Very very funny, Potter. Well I guess if you aren't going to tell me, I'll be on my way back to the castle, ready to _sleep_ for once," Corrin sighed as she stood up. Sirius grabbed her hand.

"Aww, come on Corrin. We needed to make sure you wouldn't tell anyone. You wouldn't tell anyone if you were a part of it, so we sort of just dragged you here," Sirius explained.

"I suggested we make you an Animagi like us, but it appeared you've already got that part covered," James laughed. Peter gave two squeaks, letting them know that Remus is still waiting on them.

"Well it doesn't hurt to hang out more with you guys, _I hope_ ," Corrin gave in. She closed her eyes, and soon became a fairly orange fox. She picked up her little basket with her teeth and followed the black dog, tall stag, and skittering rat inside a dark tunnel...

 _What is going to be at the end of the thing? What does the inside of the shack even look like? Is Lupin really going to be tame? He's used to his friends, but what about me? I sure am glad he was alright last time I found him. I'd probably be dead if he wasn't sane. I should really get started on those Wolfsbane Potions..._

Corrins mind buzzed with thoughts. As she emerged from the tunnel, she found a semi-under control werewolf, laying painfully on the floor. There was barely any light emitting from the cracks in the wooden shack, but that was expected. The fox shyly trotted into a corner and waited to see what the others would do. She inspected the werewolf carefully. It was slightly jittery, and the three animals surrounding him were certainly doing their best to calm him down. Eventually, the black dog nudged the nearly-asleep fox. The five exited the shack, and began to simply walk. Corrin felt a bit bored, but the excitement of what they were doing and the eerie quietness overwhelmed her with a warm feeling of being included in something...big.


	10. Chapter 10: Quite A Catch

Corrin, understandably exhausted after spending three consecutive full moons with her boyfriend and his three goofy friends, was just waking as she did every morning. Her hair was stuck to her face in all sorts of ways, and she unsuccessfully attempted to straighten it out. She rubbed her eyes and gave a frighteningly loud yawn, startling Molly who had just began to fix her hair in the mirror.

"Merlin! You're going to be the leading cause of deafness with that yawn," Molly shook her head and chucked her hairbrush at Corrin, who just caught it solely because she was awake. _She was lucky it didn't hit my face. That would be a call for war._

"Merlin!" Corrin mocked. "You _both_ are going to lose all your possessions if you keep throwing them at me." She set the hairbrush aside and got out of her bed, only to resume stretching her entire body.

"Come on both of you. Why can't you ever just wake up like everyone else?" Ariella shook her head. She sat on her bed, humming in tune with the sounds of her owl.

"Well so- _rry_ if we can't all wake up singing with the birds like you can, Ar," Corrin remarked.

"Corrin, I think it's best for the safety of everyone that you refrain from singing, period," Molly stifled a laugh.

"Come on then, Cory. We don't want to be late for breakfast. It's awkward enough as is to just walk past all those crowded tables. We don't want to miss any important announcements or student speculations!" Ariella urged her friends.

"Quit your fretting, Ar. I'm sure no one knows about your love life any more than you want them too," Molly soothed her friend. "Come on now, Cory. Don't want to be late for class _again_ now do you?"

"Alright, alright, I'm done!" Corrin raised her hands up to show defeat as she followed her friends downstairs. The halls were even more chaotic than usual. Quidditch finals, along with regular finals, not to mention the O. , were famed for creating havoc in the entire school every year.

"Watch out!" An unseen voice called. A heavy textbook was thrown in the path of Molly, and it could have nearly pelted her into the ground if Corrin didn't grab it in time. She nearly got the wind knocked out of her, and stumbled back a few steps, but she caught it alright.

" _What do you think you're doing chucking thousand ton textbooks around? Now scram before I do something about it!_ " Ariella fumed as she grabbed the textbook from Corrin and launched it back from where it came from. Corrin and Molly let go of their breaths in relief when the heavy book landed with a loud thud on the floor instead of atop someone's head.

James Potter was, as per usual, leading his friends along in the halls when a peculiar object was thrown high into the air, about to land on some unsuspecting student. He pointed it out to his friends, and they eagerly shoved their way along the halls to see what would happen. They burst halfway to Corrin when they saw her catch it, saving Molly from a trip to the infirmary. After Ariella gave a loud lion's roar, a common idea sparked in the head's of the four boys.

"That's it, I'm done," Corrin sighed. Breakfast had been going just dandy, but her boyfriend and his hooligan friends were just at it again. A slice of cheese headed here, a stick of butter there, and three ill-aimed loaves of bread all aimed at Corrin. She barely had time to spot one, let alone three. _How, how, HOW is it possible that so many inanimate objects can be airborne and directed towards me in just one morning?_ Corrin shook the crumbs off her head, and stormed angrily out of the Great Hall. Molly and Ariella followed close behind.

"What were you _doing_?" Sirius gaped at his friends.

"What were _you two_ doing? I was supposed to be the one to throw it!" Remus hissed angrily.

"I thought it was me!" James scoffed.

"What have we done?" Peter sunk in his seat.

"What are ya doing mate? Go after her," James nudged Sirius. The black haired boy rushed out of his seat and made his way into the halls. It would have been hard to find Corrin, but the sounds of Ariella Harlings raging and Molly trying to sooth Corrin proved to make his girlfriend an easy find.

"Get out of here, Black! You and your mates have done enough damage for all of eternity!" Ariella punched him in the gut.

"Ah! I'm sorry! We were just trying to see-" Sirius received another blow, and was getting pretty worked up. It wasn't beneath him to fight a girl just yet, especially Ariella Harlings.

"It's fine, I'm just annoyed," Corrin rolled her eyes and lay a restraining hand on Ariella's shoulder. She immediately seemed to calm down, but didn't hesitate to glare at Sirius. "Can you just please please _please_ tell me why you decided throwing things at me would be a jolly good time? Because trust me, I'm sure you four could think of something just a _tad_ bit classier for one of your stupid schemes," Corrin folded her arms.

"Look, Corrin, I'm sorry." Sirius sighed. "Just please believe me when I say it's for your benefit?"

"I don't need your help to practice dodging loaves of bread," Corrin rolled her eyes.

"Cory, maybe we should just leave him to find a better excuse," Molly spoke up.

"Come on, Corrin, please...we just wanted to see if you'd try out for Quidditch next year perhaps?" Sirius explained. "You'd be a great Keeper!" He added as Molly began to ever so slowly lead her out of the halls.

"Look, Sirius, it's fine. I'm just really ticked right now. I...I'll see you later.." Corrin shook her head and let herself get swept away and to her first class. This day was getting out to be a terrible start. _This is what happens when I wake up early_ Corrin thought to herself.

At the end of the day, Sirius had made up his mind. He was going to prove to Corrin that, although she hated any form of work or exercise, she was going to be fantastic at Quidditch, well at least one aspect of it. After taking in many words of encouragement, discouragement, and a plethora of jokes from his three best mates, Sirius left his dorm room.

The Gryffindor Common room was vibrant, even when you're not in the middle. Corrin stayed far away from the large fireplace. Not many people preferred the couch furthest away, but that was Corrin's absolute favorite. Corrin felt a familiar pair of arm wrap around her shoulders. She looked up to find Sirius smiling at her. He jumped over the couch and landed with a thud next to her.

"Hello darling," Sirius grinned.

Corrin laughed at his silly nickname and leaned on him. "Hey. Not here to chuck more bread at me?"

Sirius shook his head. "Not this evening, I'm afraid."

"Sorry about Ariella. Are you okay?" Corrin moved her hand down to where he was punched.

Sirius laughed and shook his head. "It'll take a lot more than that to hurt me. I need to provide you an explanation for the, erm, incident at breakfast." He waited in anticipation for her reacion.

Corrin lay down on his lap, and curled up against his stomach. She closed her eyes and murmured "Do go on...".

Sirius chuckled. "You're not gonna fall asleep are you? It's still a while before dinner."

"No no, I'm listening..." Corrin urged him to begin.

"I was being honest earlier. You'd be a great Keeper at Quidditch. I don't think any of us could catch a Potions textbook like you could," Sirius smiled as he absentmindedly started to twirl a strand of her hair. "Just come out to the pitch with me. Right now. I promise it won't be as bad as you think it'll be," Sirius pleaded.

"But that would require _me_ going outside for..." She faked a shudder. " _Exercise!_ "

"Oh come on, Corrin. I'll sneak you down to the Hogwarts Kitchens afterwards," Sirius tempted.

"Fine, but don't expect me to like it," Corrin huffed. She was lifted to her feet and given a broom. Sirius was lucky his friends had one to spare, especially this close to Quidditch finals. The two walked hand in hand down to the pitch, where it was mainly empty.

"Alright Corrin, let's get you up there," Sirius smirked and kicked off into the sky with a Quaffle. Corrin sighed, but followed in suit as Sirius zoomed around.

"Are you going to throw it at me or keep pretending you're a fairy?" Corrin shouted at him. She hovered in front of the goalpost with a boring expression on her face.

"You're asking for it!" Sirius shouted back as he threw the Quaffle with minimal effort. Corrin caught it easily, but was a bit shaky on her broom. She threw it back at Sirius, who caught it as well. After going back and forth for half an hour, Corrin was starting to mainly enjoy herself. Sadly for her, Sirius got a little over his head as he chucked the Quaffle right at Corrin with as much force as he could muster up. She caught it square in the stomach and was knocked off her broom and into the goalpost.

"Corrin!" Sirius yelled partially in surprise and partially in laughter. He flew up to Corrin, who was still clutching the ball to her chest and teetering on the rounded edges of the goal.

"This isn't funny!" Corrin yelled at him.

"Aw come on Rin, you're fine," Sirius extended a hand to her and swept her up in front of him. "Now let's get down before something bad happens to James' broom."

Corrin was exhausted. The only thing holding her up so far was the promised trip to the kitchens. Sirius had to return James' broom, leaving Corrin waiting impatiently for him outside. By the time he came out, she was ready to fall asleep. After a lot of prodding and motivating, they were finally in the kitchens. Corrin munched hungrily on cookies and candies while Sirius did his best to convince her to try out next year.

"Professor McGonagall always wanted to see us beat the Slytherin team. I'm sure we'll be able to do it with your help!" Sirius beamed. Corrin nodded, but kept pondering the idea. She'd like to help out with the team, but she didn't want to give up any more free time than she already had. She wasn't the sturdiest on the broom, although the Flying class in Year One did help a load.

"Perhaps, Sirius, I'll think about it for sure. For now, I think I've got myself enough hobbies," Corrin informed him while chewing a taffy. "For now, I need to check the mail. Ar is making me get her letters because of some reason _again_ ," Corrin sighed and shook her head.

"I'll accompany you there," Sirius smiled. Corrin looped an arm through his and they ascended the stairs to the Owlery. Sirius leaned against one of the cleaner walls and surveyed the room while Corrin tried her best to pry the mail away from Ariella's jumpy owl. They were just about to leave when Corrin noticed something strange.

"I've got mail.." Corrin stated aloud. It seemed quite strange. She rarely ever got any letters. There just wasn't anyone to talk to. She picked the letter from Thorn's beak and flipped it to the front. The envelope was decorated splendidly, with golden highlights and accents. The mere letters seemed to blind Corrin with the way the light reflected off of it. Without another glance, she knew this was a product of the Emberly family. Something big was happening, and she needed to know what.

"Everything alright Rin?" Sirius looked over her shoulder at the envelope. He could briefly make out the words " _The Emberly Family Invites You To..._ ".

Corrin shredded it open, not caring at all for the mess the paper made. It would make any of the owls the finest nest anyway. She opened the letter, and after reading it, she couldn't help but start sobbing.

"Corrin?" Sirius held onto her. "What's wrong?" She didn't reply for a long time. All she could and wanted to do was bury her head in his shoulder and hold onto him for dear life. Sirius didn't want to pry, but picked up the fine parchment and began to read it with one hand while he embraced her with the other. As he read it, he couldn't help but furrow his eyebrows.

"They've done it again Sirius...they've done it _again_..."


	11. Chapter 11: The Set Up

_The Emberly Family Invites You To A Spring Formal Ball_

 _In celebration of Spring, you are cordially invited to the Emberly Mansion during the third day of April.  
Please dress accordingly and arrive on time.  
The festivities last from Noon until Midnight.  
Invitations are required for admission._

 _Thank you, and we hope to see you there._

 _Dear Corrin Emberly,_

Your father and I both expect to see you there at the ball. No skipping about town, no flying out of the country, no running away. If you do, I will not be hesitant to pull you out of Hogwarts and tutor you at home. You _will_ be at the ball, you _will_ not complain or embarrass yourself, and you _will_ not act out.

 _Sincerely,  
Tessaria Whitman-Emberly (Your Mother)_

Corrin was still shivering from her sobs in the arms of Sirius Black half an hour later in the Owlery. Sirius wasn't short of noticing the exact same shimmer of gold in the tufts of layers of his own owl. He didn't have to even open it to know what it would be. Of _course_ he was invited to the same ball. It was probable that every Pureblood the Emberlys knew was invited.

"Rin, it'll be alright, it's just another stupid event. At least I'll be there," Sirius whispered softly in Corrin's ear. She sniffed and shook her head repeatedly.

"That's not it, Sirius. You don't know what you're entering. This isn't just another ball," Corrin explained. Sirius pulled back and ran his hand through his hair.

"What did you do? Revenge for something out of the ordinary? Unorthodox clothing? Bad grades?" Sirius guessed. It was how his mother used to deal with him not cooperating until he simply gave up on what they thought. He wasn't short of running away sometime in the future either.

"This happened before, except without the threatening letter. I know what she's planning. It's the same thing that happened to Carol, but I'm _not_ Carol! I don't want to be sold off into a future I don't want. Don't you get it, Sirius Black?" Corrin ranted in anger.

"Rin, what is she going to do?" Sirius still wasn't quite getting the gist of it. He was concerned. How far did other mental mothers like his go? How far was Corrin's mother going to go?

"Set me up! Force me to marry off! Use every ounce of convincing, backstabbing, blackmailing, bribing witchery she knows of to make sure my future husband will be just as harsh and restrictive as her!" Corrin teared up and proceeded to lean back into Sirius' shoulder.

He was angry at the idea of Corrin's mother doing that to her. He didn't know if she was going to be his one true love or not. He was surprised at the idea of any girl staying with him for as long as Corrin had. He was even more surprised that he hadn't screwed up so badly that she left him. All he knew was that he didn't want to lose her because of prejudice and rules.

"I won't let that happen. I'll drive away anyone who tries to get near you," Sirius whispered comforting words in Corrin's ear. "We'll get dung bombs and stink up the entire place. We'll flood it with Fire Whiskey, we'll let loose a few wild animals in there!"

Corrin laughed and wiped away her tears. If Sirius had taught her anything in the few months that she was with him, it was that rules just don't apply sometimes, and maybe it wasn't so bad to break them once in a while. "M-maybe we will..?" She leaned up and kissed him right in the middle of all the falling feathers and owl ruckus.

Sirius drew her in close and wrapped his arms around her. Corrin did the same as she ran her hand through his groomed hair. She knew it annoyed him, but she also knew he wouldn't break the kiss to stop her.

"Cory!" Ariella's voice squeaked in shock. Corrin jumped back from Sirius, who seemed more disappointed than surprised. "Did you come to get my mail or to snog?" Ariella put her hands on her hips.

"Why not both?" Sirius answered for Corrin, who laughed in response.

"Well here. Sorry if I got caught up with a ball invitation," Corrin forked over Ariella's large pile of letters, only to catch a glimpse of shimmery something within a second.

Ariella shuffled through her mail. _Letters from Henry, from Mom, from Dad, from Henry again...from Emberly House?_ Ariella looked up at Corrin, who simply shrugged.

"Looks like you'll be there to see me get set up too," Corrin gave out half a sigh and half a laugh.

"Aww, Cory! Don't worry. I'll beat up any jerk who goes your way. Care to help, Black?" Ariella challenged Sirius.

"I'd get to them all before you ever could," Sirius bragged.

"We'll see, won't we?" Corrin raised her eyebrow and stood up straight once again. She was in a much better mood now that Ariella was there to cheer her up, but she still felt quite uneasy about everything. She dusted fallen owl feathers off of her skirt and looked up at Sirius.

"You'll be alright. If anything, we can still create a diversion to get you out of there," Sirius reassured her.

"I can't even imagine how many invitations she sent out. I don't even know who mother is going to set me up with! You'd think she'd be satisfied with pushing Carol and William together already," Corrin spat out sharply.

"They're never satisfied, Rin. You just need to be strong enough to ignore whatever they have to say," Sirius advised.

"If anything, you can always hide at my house! They'll never even dare to try and cross _me_ ," Ariella declared triumphantly.

"We'd better go back to Gryffindor Tower. It's cold here, and I really really need to sleep," Corrin breathed. She rubbed her eye and took Sirius' hand. The three of them walked back to their dorms and into their Common Room. Corrin immediately felt warmer, and couldn't help but stare into the flames. To her, they seemed to be especially agonizingly warm and piercing today.

"Come on Cory! We gotta tell Molly everything!" Ariella tugged on the sleeve of the tired girl.

"I think I'll pass. I just want to go to bed," Corrin yawned. Without realizing it fully, she pulled Sirius into her room and onto her bed. As she began to quietly nod off, he took the time to survey her room once more. Curiosity sparked him and his mind filled with questions. He never really dug deep into her personal hobbies. So far, they've mostly just ate together, took walks, and joke around.

"So these are….interesting…" Sirius stared at the random splashes of paint and color across canvasses in Corrin's dorm room.

"It's called abstract, dear Sirius. The Muggles seem to be growing towards it," Corrin informed him as-a-matter-of-fact-ly. Realizing that sleep would not be possible anytime soon, she sat up on her bed.

"And a harmonica?" He picked up the small metal instrument that lay near Corrin's bedside desk. It was very shiny, and certainly very expensive based on the looks of it, then again, what in her dorm room wasn't?

"You should pick it up sometime. You need something to do when you inevitably end up in jail for stealing something, no doubt," Corrin joked.

"The only reason I'd end up in jail is from my dashing good looks," Sirius beamed proudly and swung an arm around her

Corrin rolled her eyes and leaned against him. She started to doze off once more.

"Or if someone at that ball tries to marry you off and take you away into some dumb and miserable, constricted life," Sirius said softly under his breath, holding her a bit closer. He meant it as a joke, but was starting to realize the truth in his words.

"Really?" Corrin asked softly, but dramatically. "You'd go to jail for me?"

"Err….wha-..pfft, I-I'd never say something like that…" Sirius stuttered and tried to act cool.

Corrin sat up straight again and looked him in the eye. "Well you kind of just did. Even if you didn't, you _did_ imply it." She smiled and laughed her bright, but very loud laugh.

He took that as a chance to pull her close and kiss her right on the mouth. As they were just getting into it, Corrin let her hand that held her upright slip and both of them collapsed on her bed. As they burst into fits of giggles, Corrin took a breather long enough to say "I'm still right though!"

"If I admit you are, can we go back to snogging?" Sirius grumbled as he stuck his face in her neck.

"I would, but-"

" _Merlin_ Cory! _Again?_ " Ariella groaned in agony as the door burst open and Corrin's two best mates stepped inside their shared space. "Wasn't the Owlery enough?"

"Sirius, you really shouldn't be in the girls' dorms anyway," Molly added on, putting her hands to her hips in a motherly fashion.

"I do what I wish," Sirius rebutted as he lay back down on the bed, dragging Corrin down with him.

" _Sirius!"_ Corrin squealed. She lightly pushed him away and got up again. "I'll see you tomorrow, alright?"

"But _Rin_!" Sirius pouted like a child. His antic led to laughter from all three girls. Nevertheless, Molly quickly ushered him out of the room. Corrin pecked him on the lips before he was pushed out the door. "I'll see you!" Sirius stuck his head through the door one last time, pulling it out and shutting the door just before Ariella's wand hit him in the face.

"You should really control that, ya know," Corrin laughed.

"Yea? And you should control your hair. Any which way, a ball is still a ball, and you may not like it, but we _do_ know something you like, even if it's for a ball of stupidity," Ariella began.

"It's time to pick out a dress, Madam Emberly," Molly threw open Corrin's closet doors.

"Yea, I'm not going to wear something in _there_. I need something better than school clothes and casual nonsense," Corrin rolled her eyes. "We can go buy things over Spring Holiday, alright?"

Molly and Ariella nodded their heads in response. Corrin sighed as she rolled over on her bed and closed her eyes once more. _Why oh why can't I ever just have the chance to be my own person outside of Hogwarts? Why did I have to end up in a family of Pureblooded panic. I'm not getting set up by mother. It may sound typical, but I want to be with Sirius, and she isn't going to get in the way this time. She got in the way last time, but not again. I just hope I'm not so used to faking that I hurt Sirius at the ball..._


	12. Chapter 12: Pain

Corrin gulped. She loved how she looked, but hated everything else about what was going on in her life right then and there. She slumped on her bed, throwing a shoe at her painting of a target, which was filled with holes. The first shoe hit the target, but slid right off. Corrin sat up a bit straighter and attempted to throw the heel straight through the bulls-eye. It only hit the inner ring, but it was close enough for her.

A knock on her door sent her over the edge. "I'm ready already! I'll bloody be down there soon!" Corrin screamed. She glanced at the clock, which told her it was ten minutes until her dreaded ball. She knew that the first eligible boy her age to walk through there would probably be her mother's pick of a future husband.

"Corrin?" A softer voice than her mother's knocked on the door. Corrin looked over to see that it wasn't her vexatious mother, but instead her serene and obedient sister, Carol.

"What is it this time, Carol?" Corrin sighed. Whenever Carol came, it was usually to deliver a long winded speech about an upcoming event, or to bring bad news from their mother, who was probably too busy at the moment to say anything. Corrin figured this time, it'd be both.

"First of all, mother says she expects you to be down soon, which I do hope you'll do. Mother means well. She wouldn't do something for no reason. Please understand," Carol sat beside Corrin and placed a calming hand on her shoulder. Corrin didn't bother to brush it off.

"I get it. Look, you can go and have a ball with William, but don't expect me to like this like you will. I'm not up for this kind of party," Corrin rolled her eyes and turned away from Carol.

"Corrin, even if mother has set you up, I'm sure whoever it is will be just as charming and sweet at William is. She does have an eye for finding just the right person..." Carol was lost in a daze, fawning over her William.

"I don't _want_ any respectable man, or charming man, or any man! All I want is-" Corrin stopped herself before she said his name. She didn't dare say his name in front of anyone in her family. "Look, you know I'm going to behave already, so just leave me alone," Corrin whispered.

Carol's eyes lit up with excitement. "So you've met someone already!"

"Carol, leave me be or I will not hesitate to tell William about how much you _really_ banter and fawn over him," Corrin glared at her elder sister.

"Well if that's how it's going to be. I won't tell mum, but I _am_ looking forward to meeting him in the future. And, for the goodness and health of everyone, I really hope you didn't pick a muggle born or halfblood," Carol smiled softly.

"Oh don't worry, dear sister, he's pure as the light of day," Corrin silently snickered to herself. As high noon approached, she heard the chatter downstairs and knew she had to get down before her mother became agitated. Gathering up the ends of her dress, she scurried downstairs and nearly toppled over on the last one. At least she would have if William hadn't warned Carol ahead of time.

"Thanks sis," Corrin straightened up and looked about the room. Her mother seemed disappointed at first, but after seeing how the teenage boy Corrin's age next to her looked, her mother gave a very smug smile. Tessaria Emberly glided across the ballroom, with who Corrin assumed was her 'match' tailing right behind. Corrin darted her eyes around to see if anyone else she could talk to had arrived yet. Unfortunately for her, it was all prim and proper adults in the ballroom.

" _Corrin_ ," Her mother said in an unnervingly sweet manner. "This is Edmond Camarade, from France, if you recall our trip a few years ago. He's been heavily studying Magical Law, haven't you Edmond?" She looked to the boy hopefully.

"I have," Edmond replied nervously. Corrin really hoped that he didn't intend to actually marry her in the future. She's met him once, and they exchanged a few conversations, but she labeled the entire experience as platonic. She pleaded to Merlin that he thought the same.

"Nice to see you again," Corrin nodded, not wanting to get touchy and have to extend a hand. She glanced at her mother, who's eyes immediately told her exactly what she had to do. Corrin held her breath, and tried looking over his shoulder. The room was quite full, and she didn't even know if Sirius was there or not. Certainly the first thing he'd do was rescue her from this situation, right? Corrin uneasily extended her hand. Edmond hesitantly, but nevertheless elegantly placed his lips atop it. Corrin internally hit herself for not wearing thick gloves...or any gloves.

"I'll leave you two to talk," Tessaria smiled smugly and glided away to talk to other people.

"No offence, Edmond, but please please please tell me that we aren't going to go romantic," Corrin closed her eyes and hoped for the best response she could get.

"Oh thank goodness, Miss Emberly, I wished the same thing," Edmond breathed a sigh. "I was very confused when my owl brought me this letter. I nearly forgot that you visited at all, do not take offence. We have not met since..." Edmond trailed off into thought.

"Since we were _twelve_ for Merlin's sake! My, I wonder if mother was planning this since then," Corrin shook her head in disbelief.

"It appears so. My father acted like he _expected_ this letter when I revealed it to him. I presume it was meant to happen for a while," Edmond answered. So, Corrin and Edmond chatted happily about their lives and such. Edmond found himself in a situation similar to that of Corrin's. What everyone else viewed, both fortunately and unfortunately, was a different perspective entirely.

"Padfoot, _please_ , I know you're angry, but Corrin wouldn't do that. She's acting, and you know it," James Potter put a warning hand on Sirius' shoulder. The two families arrived just in time to see Edmond kiss Corrin's hand. Sirius was too enraged to clearly see anything else except the unnecessary romantic gesture.

"Look at her, smiling all over him. I thought she liked _me_ ," Sirius fumed under his breath. He leaned up against the wall and glared at the two across the ballroom. He hated how, every so often, she would laugh at something he'd say. He cringed every time the boy would playfully hit Corrin's arm, and he despised it most when he saw Corrin not seem uncomfortable the slightest.

"I can't believe her mom picked that French guy," Ariella rolled her eyes and laughed. She and Molly were on the same wall as Sirius and James, but just further down the ways.

"I think she told us about him once. Completely platonic she said. I guess her mum had other ideas. At least it's someone familiar who doesn't want to marry Cory. She really is quite the actress," Molly agreed.

"Look at our girl play everyone else in the room. Merlin, her mom looks so satisfied," Ariella motioned towards where Tessaria was chatting with Edmond's parents.

"Ar, I think we better check in on Black and Potter. They don't seem as...at ease as we are..." Molly looked over her friend's shoulder to see Sirius about to lunge towards Corrin and Edmond.

Ariella immediately ran over and stepped in front of Sirius. "Calm down, Black. She's fine with Frenchie over there."

"I know! I just can't help wanting to shove all these high class wizards out of the way so that nothing can make us do something we don't want to," Sirius sighed deeply.

"I'm sure everything is going to be just fine. It's not like they're doing anything beyond talking. Clearly she likes you better, although I don't have the slightest idea why," James joked.

Sirius punched his arm, but laughed anyway. They laughed, shared jokes, and talked about every little over the top thing in the room from the decor to the people, to the food.

Corrin looked at her friends longingly, wishing that she could be laughing along with them at the ridiculousness of the situation. Her mother's patience seemed to be wearing thin. Just one look and Corrin could tell that she was supposed to be doing something more than just chatting with her future lover.

 _I have had enough of this. All I'm doing is making myself miserable. So what if she loses one daughter to rebellious attitude? It's not like she has no other child to force all of her time, energy, and lifestyle on. She should consider herself lucky that I put up with her insanity for so long. I'm making a statement at this ball, and I won't give a care what she thinks. She can use Carol all she wants, but I am my own person, and I don't want to be treated like a project._

"Excuse me," Corrin curtsied to Edmond and walked over to her friends, not even bothering to look at all the ways her mother was trying to get her attention so she could tell her to get back to talking with Edmond.

"Tell me you brought dung bombs or something here," Corrin laughed as she approached her friends.

"Cory! You escaped!" Ariella gave her a big hug. "So how's the guy over there? Boring?"

"I hate not being able to talk to you guys, and I'm thinking of ditching this lousy place. I want to go out with a bang," Corrin stated proudly.

"I was wondering when you'd stop caring," Sirius smirked as he swung an arm around Corrin. "What's the plan?"

"I want to get out of here for good. Pack a go bag and leave for someplace else. Think one of you guys can spare an extra room?" Corrin asked.

"Lucky for you, ol' Sirius and I packed some firecrackers in case things got a tad boring, which it definitely has. We'll create a diversion, and a mess, of a lifetime," James reassured Corrin.

"You could stay at my house. We've got plenty of rooms to spare for you, Cory. It'll be a cinch," Ariella beamed.

"How am I supposed to sneak away to start packing though?" Corrin wondered aloud.

"Bathroom, Cory, obviously," Ariella shook her head. "It's the most basic of excuses!"

"Alright, I'm going. Don't set of those fireworks until Molly tells you to!" Corrin smiled brightly and ran upstairs.

"How will we know when to set them off?" Sirius pondered.

"Oh don't worry. I'll know," Molly beamed to herself.

Corrin dashed upstairs clumsily, trying to not fall from her shoes, which started to cause her a great deal of pain. She threw open her trunk and stuffed as many things as she possibly could in there, the first being her ballgown. She hurriedly changed into a much more suitable ensemble and began to pack as much as she possibly could. Thorn softly hooted in his cage, and looked bewildered at how rushed his owner was packing. As she neared the end of her packing, she noticed someone standing in her doorway.

"So you're just going to leave like this? Without any concern for your family or your reputation? How could you do this to us?" Carol angrily crossed her arms.

"If you haven't been paying attention for the last decade, Carol, this life isn't my style. It never was. I would have been happy to keep pretending if our dearest mother didn't force me into an arranged marriage," Corrin retorted.

"That is complete nonsense, Corrin. She would never organize an arranged marriage," Carol scoffed.

"Oh she wouldn't?" How did you meet William? Fate? Chance? _No._ It was mother who introduced him to you at a ball just like this one all those years ago, wasn't it now? How is that not arranged? Not pre-planned? She's been shaping us like pottery to be the ideal child _and_ wife since birth for the richest and purest man to cross our paths. _That_ , dearest sister, is why I am leaving," Corrin growled as she slammed her trunk shut, causing Thorn to jump in his cage.

Carol was tearing up, and Corrin was almost pitiful of her sister, who at least had the kindness to ignore her instead of pester her (until now) for their entire childhood. The older sister stormed out of the room, leaving Corrin to bask in her rage. Corrin sighed and dug through her drawers. How was she going to finance herself? It's too much to ask the Harlings to pay for _everything_. Maybe she could pawn off all her jewelry, but those were her favorite gold earrings...

" _Hey,_ " Carol reappeared at her door with a sack of a clinking something. "Take it." She threw it at Corrin, who caught it and opened it up right away. Inside, was a heaping amount of Galleons.

"How did you-"

"Half I've been saving up. The rest I...took from father," Carol admitted quietly, still harboring a glare on her face.

"Carol Emberly had the _audacity_ to steal? Huh, I'm surprised," Corrin raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not going to let _my_ little sister run amok the streets homeless," Carol mumbled, stepping inside to give Corrin one last hug.

Corrin grimaced and thought about giving back the money. _I'm not going to be in the streets homeless exactly...but I need the money. I'll need as much as I can get if I'm going to live away from here comfortably.._ With that thought, she stowed the Galleons in her trunk and lifted it up. Just then, explosions galore could be heard from downstairs, followed by a rushed sound of footsteps clambering up.

"Ready to go, Rin?" Sirius poked his head through the door, smirking wildly with pride, letting it falter with the sight of Carol in the room. Carol gave Corrin a worried look, but the younger sister didn't acknowledge it at all.

"I'll see you when I see you," Corrin waved a lazy goodbye to her sister, while taking Sirius' hand and kissing him on the cheek, hoping it would drive her sister mad. Suddenly, Sirius ran for the window at the end of the hall.

"We got Peter to get us broomsticks over. We're riding out in fashion!" Sirius shouted his plan over his shoulder.

"Are you sure it can hold all my stuff?" Corrin asked breathlessly and annoyed that she had to do so much physical activity.

"It'll be fine!" Sirius reassured her.

Carol became agitated, and it didn't take her long to sprint after Corrin, losing bother of her heels in the process. "Corrin! Please wait, you have to reconsider! Please! Think of mother! Think of all the guests downstairs!" Carol screamed after Corrin, but the girl paid no mind to any of her sister's pleas.

 _"If you think that any of what you mentioned will stop me..."_

Sirius shoved open the window, and gave a holler as he jumped over onto his broom. He extended a hand to Corrin, who threw her trunk out and onto another broom. Molly and James worked expertly to tie the trunk to the broom, then the broom handle to another broom that Ariella was riding on. Corrin leaped out of the window and landed beside Sirius. As they were about to leave, Corrin looked back at the window to see Carol almost to the window, hesitant on jumping out after them. She shot Corrin a final look of absolute desperation.

 _"Then you are no sister of mine."_


	13. Chapter 13: To Settle in a Home

"Okay, so my mom says that you can stay for as long as you like! This is perfect! Now we're just like sisters!" Ariella happily clapped her hands. They had just begun to unpack. The exhilaration from previous events still rushing through their blood. All of Corrin's things had been successfully transferred from the brooms to her new room. Molly had returned to the party shortly after to gather information and to check on her family. James was waiting outside for Sirius.

"Yep. No more boring things to do, no more terrible rules, and definitely no more suitors. I'd love to see the expression on my mother's face when Carol tells her what happened. It'd wipe that smug grin right off her face!" Corrin laughed.

"Hey, Corrin?" Sirius lightly knocked on the door and entered the room. Ariella gave Corrin a wink and left the room. "We're gonna go. I've just got an owl from my mother. Guess it's time for another round of 'Who's the Disappointment?'" Sirius sighed.

"Hey hey hey, come on! It's definitely not you, alright? If anyone is disappointing, its your mom for being cold-hearted and uncaring about you. She's no better than mine," Corrin put a reassuring hand on Sirius' shoulder. He took this opportunity to hold her close and leaned in to kiss her. Not long after, a knock on their window made them jump apart.

"Hey Sirius! When you're done being a hopeless romantic, we should start heading back!" James shouted through the window.

Sirius turned grim, and Corrin felt him stiffen. She hesitated for a moment, but brought his face to look at her's.

"You'll be alright. Owl me if anything goes badly. I'm here for you, alright?" Corrin whispered. Sirius gave a small smile, and it didn't take him long to return to his normal, rebellious self.

"I'll return for you one day, m'lady," Sirius gave a smirk and a wink before leaping out of the window. Corrin laughed and waved as she watched him and James soar away and back to wherever they had to be. Anxiety took over her as she sat down on her bed and began to think about what exactly happened.

She was free! But, at what cost? What would happen if her mother decided to come after her, or if she accidentally bumped into one of her family members outside of school? She was probably going to get a Howler any second!

"Cory! You alright?" Ariella rushed inside and sat next to Corrin, putting a cautious hand on her shoulder.

"W-what?" Corrin wondered. Wasn't she just sitting here and thinking?

"You began hyperventilating and kind of crying. Are you okay? I mean, you don't miss that old place do you?" Ariella gave Corrin a hug.

"No no! Of course not! A-are you crazy?" Corrin laughed, but tears were still coming down her face. "I-it's just...".

Ariella looked concerned, and she was probably impatient for Corrin to speak already, but Corrin could see her biting her tongue and trying to hold it in. Corrin smiled a little and wiped away her tears.

"I'm just worried about what will happen. I don't want to feel like a burden on your house!" the runaway explained.

"Corrin, if you feel like that, then you have no problems here," A new voice softly said at the doorway. The two girls looked up to see Ariella's mom.

"Oh, Mrs. Harlings, I didn't see you there..." Corrin gave a fake smile.

"Mom! I told you to wait downstairs!" Ariella hissed between her teeth, looking a bit embarrassed.

"Well after your two friends left zooming on broomsticks, I thought it's be a good time to check up on you guys," Mrs. Harlings smiled. "Corrin, if you're worried you'll be a hard time, you can trust me when I say that you're not. You can always come to me if you need any help, alright? Now don't be so worried! If anyone comes-"

"We'll chase 'em off with swords!" Ariella leaped up from her spot on the bed and pretended to point one at an invisible enemy. Corrin laughed and rolled her eyes at her friend's goofy antics.

"Alright Ariella, we know that you can handle them, but you still can't inherit the swords until you're at least eighteen," Mrs. Harlings chimed. She walked back downstairs, leaving the two back in privacy.

"Swords?" Corrin raised a suspicious eyebrow.

"We Harlings have a long line of swords for any occasion! I mean, sure some of them were only used for failures, like the time my great great uncle Garret tried to, and unsuccessfully fought a dragon. That sword is still a bit...charred, but hey it can still be used sometime!" Ariella explained.

"Do they even serve an purpose now?" Corrin questioned.

"Only if we want to. My dad uses some to teach me how to fight with a sword, but I can only use a training one that's not as amazing as the real historical ones," Ariella sighed sadly.

"Hey, you'll get your own soon. Who knows? Maybe if you're lucky Godric Gryffindor'll lend you his for a while!" Corrin joked.

"Very funny, Cory. Like Godric Gryffindor's sword will appear out of thin air!" Ariella scoffed.

After a few minutes of unpacking, the girls decided to explore and tour the ancient house of Harlings. Many of the surfaces and rooms were made out of marble and steel. Corrin discovered that all of the Harlings had a history of being just as, if not even more adventurous and daring as Ariella was. Some of them accomplished great feats, such as fighting monsters never thought to be challenged. Others...didn't fare so well, like failing to scale jagged cliffs only to be met with their demise. Either way, the Harlings sure were very proud of what they do, and don't like to forget a single moment of it. They are bound by honor, glory, and adventure.

In the halls, hundred of ancestors' pictures and portraits lay against the walls, all full on chattering and talking. Some went on and on about how glorious they were in battle and on journeys, whilst others complained about how they were so close, yet so far to accomplishing unimaginable things. As the two girls walked through, they were pelted with greetings and questions.

"Ariella! Good to see you again! How is school doing?" A thin lady asked. She wore a beautiful ballgown, but it was clear that she had on metal boots and a knight's helmet on as well.

"Very good, Great great great aunt Georgina," Ariella proudly replied.

"Did you do anything daring lately?" a croaky voice asked from behind them. There hung a picture of an old man on a great steed, galloping through a fiery field of bones. He was in complete knight's armor.

"I fought a Whomping Willow at school with nothing but a small knife. Would have completely demolished it if I had those swords like you did," Ariella sighed. This created murmurs all around the hall.

"You'll get them soon enough, Ariella. Perhaps you'll add your own to the collection. Who's your darling friend there?" A young woman in a sundress asked two portraits down.

"This is my friend Corrin. She escaped her nasty mother to come stay with us. Don't worry, she's not a coward, right Cory?" Ariella shot her a winning smile.

"Right, Ari," Corrin beamed. She always felt a lot braver whenever Ariella was around. Perhaps the Harling magic rubbed off on Corrin while in the hall of great and not-so great heroes. After conversing with all of the Harling ancestors for at least an hour, Ariella showed Corrin the entirety of the mansion. Swords were no joke in this house. An entire room filled with the weapons in glass cases, hung on the walls, crossed behind shields, and even made into ceiling decor. This was Ariella's favorite.

Corrin was very tired and looking forward to bed. After a while of tossing and turning, Corrin saw herself fit of a glass of water. She crept downstairs bit by bit until she reached the kitchen. On her way up, however, she noticed Ariella across from the Hall of Ancestors in the Sword Sanctuary. The girl stared at the swords in awe, and sat right in the middle of the room.

"Ar? You alright?" Corrin poked her head in the archway.

"Cory? What are you doing up so late?" Ariella asked. "You're never one to skimp out on sleep."

Corrin held up her glass and Ariella gave her a knowing nod. Corrin sat down beside her friend, staring up at the long walls filled with every type of sword and steel imaginable.

"Excited to inherit it all?" Corrin asked.

"I don't know. Every one of my ancestors in the hall keep telling me to improve and prove. The Harlings hasn't had a real hero in generations. Father thinks that we should even retire our quest to greatness," Ariella sighed.

"What? That's preposterous! You're the bravest and most daring all around! No one in Hogwarts would dare mess with you," Corrin pointed out.

Ariella gave a weak smile. "Thanks Cory, but with so many failures, all the other families are starting to think we're making fools of ourselves!"

"That's not going to happen. You know what you're going to do when you're out of Hogwarts. You're gonna become a sword master, and adventure all around the world doing great things. Don't downplay your heritage. I know you can do great things," Corrin reassured her confidently.

Ariella let that sink in for a bit. Her face suddenly became determined and she stood up like a champion who just defeated all of his enemies. "You're right Emberly. I'm going to become the greatest hero the world has ever seen!"


	14. Chapter 14: The Potters' Gala

"Tell me they're not..." Corrin whispered to Lily Evans. The Potters decided to throw a party of their own in their final year of attending Hogwarts. After years of not returning home, Corrin was happily living with the Harlings. She was the only one to attend this gala from the Harlings residence. They were away on a 'family adventure'.

"Oh Merlin they _are_ ," Lily gasps and giggles along with Corrin. Sirius and James were dancing absolutely ridiculously in the middle of the dance floor after losing a bet to Remus and Peter. Corrin didn't have anyone to talk to, so she may as well befriend her boyfriend's best friend's girlfriend. Also known as Lily Evans.

"We're definitely breaking up with them after this, right?" Corrin laughed as Sirius begins to hype up the crowd with his awful impression of a goose dancing.

"Well..." Lily hesitated a moment, but then James burst out flopping on the floor like a worm. " _Definitely_." Lily nodded her head furiously.

"Quick Evans! Avert your eyes and let us steal away to the gardens before everyone knows they're associated with us," Corrin tugged her arm and led her outside as their boys finished their dance and started searching for their girls.

"It was charming...at least..." Lily attempted to find a positive in the dance.

"Lily. Admit it. Not an ounce of your kindness can be spared for the atrocity that our boyfriends have just performed," Corrin giggled.

While they hid behind the house and talked some more, Sirius and James were at a speech loss for where their girlfriends might have gone. They searched high and low before hearing some very familiar giggling going on behind a large bush.

"Think you got a plan?" Sirius asked James.

"The only thing luring Lily out anytime soon is going to be adorable woodland creatures, which we will not be able to catch," James sighed.

"Mate, are you forgetting that we are _adorable_ woodland creatures?" Sirius raises his eyebrow.

"They'll obviously recognize us you tosser!" James ruffled Sirius' hair and laughed.

"How about we throw things? That'll get Rin's attention for sure!" Sirius beamed. "Got any spare Quaffles?"

Corrin sat down on the grass and snickered at something Lily said. "Hey, don't you think they'll be looking for us now?" She whispered. Right at that moment, a Quaffle flew past her head and hit the wall behind them.

"What in Merlin's Beard was that?" Lily jumped from shock.

Corrin peeked out from behind the tree and spotted Sirius grinning madly. "Our boys' attempts to get us out here." She replies with a knowing smirk.

"We're not letting up are we?" Lily giggles once more and takes a look for herself.

"You're not getting us out that easy!" Corrin shot and threw back the ball with force.

James catches it with ease and tosses it back. "You'll have to come out some time!"

Corrin and him fling the ball back and forth repeatedly. Lily watches with amusement in her eyes. She smiles at James' silly laughter and how he would sneak glances at her when the ball wasn't in his hands. He shot her winks and smirks between the flying Quaffle. Sirius knew that all of them were distracted, and took the chance to creep around to get to the bush where the girls were.

Suddenly, Corrin feels a pair of arms lifting her up in the air just as the Quaffle leaves the tip of her fingers. She shrieks at first, then bursts out laughing when she realized it was only Sirius.

"You caught us. Now bloody put me down!" She slaps his arm playfully.

"I can't believe you boys would do that out there," Lily sighed and shook her head.

"Well, then what do you suppose we do?" Sirius frowned.

"Quidditch?" James suggested.

"You _always_ want to play Quidditch. You worked us to death near the finals! I've never been so tired in my life! And that includes all the times with Remus," Corrin frowned.

"Hey we won, right?" James pointed out.

"It doesn't matter," Corrin stuck her tongue out at him.

"Come on Emberly. Just _one_ game. Are you even on your top game?" James pleaded.

"Prongs, we both know you just want to show off to your lady friend here. I, on the other hand, need no assistance of manliness to prove my worth to Rin," Sirius laughed.

"Yeah. We both know Sirius just can't beat me," Corrin nodded.

"Is that so?" Sirius scoffed. "Let's get the brooms! It's time for Quidditch!"

"But I don't want to!" Corrin complained. Lily spent the entire time laughing on her own next to James.

As the party continued, Sirius dragged you to the side. "Rin, we really need to talk about something..." He looked at you sternly in the eyes,

"Sure..but is something wrong?" She held his hand nervously.

"Well, since we're all graduated...I've been thinking if you wanted to get away somewhere. Just the two of us in our own place. I mean, I'm a million times sure you'll get that job as a healer, and I'll find work somewhere. I know I'm usually not this _Sirius..._ " He began.

"Please never make that pun again," Corrin shakes her head and sighs.

"Right, sorry. But this is our chance to get away!" Sirius' eyes glimmered with hope. Something in Corrin's gut told her that through his rough past and hers, they both needed this. To prove it to the world and to their families.

"Alright...let's do it!"

 _A/N: I'm so sorry this is so short. I've been occupied lately, but I promise I haven't forgotten this and am not giving this up!_


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